Prayerlessness

In her book A Place of Quiet Rest [2], Nancy Leigh DeMoss includes several chapters on prayer. In a chapter titled “The Privilege of Prayer” she discusses a period of prayerlessness in her life and her growing conviction that she had to get to the root of it. “As God opened my eyes to this matter of prayerlessness, I asked Him to let me see it from His point of view. Here is what I wrote in my journal one day when God first began to deal with my heart.” She does not attempt to provide a doctrine of prayer or prayerlessness as much as a reflection on what prayerlessness means in her own life. I found it very helpful.

Here is what she says:

I am convicted that prayerlessness …

• is a sin against God (1 Samuel 12:23).
• is direct disobedience to the command of Christ (“watch and pray,” Matthew 26:41).
• is direct disobedience to the Word of God (“pray without ceasing,” 1 Thessalonians 5:17).
• makes me vulnerable to temptation (“watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation,” Matthew 26:41).
• expresses independence—no need for God.
• gives place to the Enemy and makes me vulnerable to his schemes (Ephesians 6:10-20; Daniel 10).
• results in powerlessness.
• limts (and defines) my relationship with God.
• hinders me from knowing His will, His priorities, His direction.
• forces me to operate in the realm of the natural (what I can do) versus the supernatural (what He can do).
• leaves me weak, harried, and hassled.
• is rooted in pride, self-sufficiency, laziness, and lack of discipline.
• reveals a lack of real burden and compassion for others.