Failing in Prayer
by O. Hallesby
"The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." - James 5:16
Why do most of us fail so miserably in prayer? I have pondered this question nearly ever since I, by the grace of God, began to pray.
I think we will all admit, both to ourselves and to others, without any question, that to pray is difficult for all of us. The difficulty lies in the very act of praying. To pray, really to pray, is what is difficult for us. It feels like too much of an effort.
That natural persons feel that prayer is an effort is not strange in the least. They "receive not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto them." Natural persons may, of course, feel a desire to pray at times. They may feel a desire to pray when they are in danger, for instance, or when they are in a religious frame of mind. But they can never become reconciled to daily and regular prayer. They feel that it is unreasonable on the part of God to be so particular about this matter of praying. They give many reasons why they do not pray quite as many prayers as most pastors and preachers demand of them. They say to themselves: "The Lord certainly does not expect people who are well and strong and able to work to spend so much valuable time in prayer. Especially in these modern times when everybody is so busy."
Natural persons look upon prayer as a burdensome task. Most unspiritual people never assume this burden. Some do, however, and pray to God a little each day. But they feel that it is a heavy requirement, and they do so only because they think that our Lord is strict in regard to this and insists that it be done. That this is the natural person's view of prayer does not surprise us.
It cannot help but surprise us, however, when we find that this view is prevalent also among believing Christians, at least among many of us. At conversion we were led into a life of earnest, diligent prayer. Our seasons of prayer were the happiest time of the day. But after a longer or a shorter period of time, we began to encounter difficulties in our prayer life. Prayer became a burden, an effort. As honest souls we clung diligently and faithfully to prayer, but often we had to compel ourselves to enter into our secret chambers. Prayer, which was once the free, happy, grateful communion of a redeemed soul with God, had begun to become a matter of duty, which we performed more or less punctiliously according to our character and the willpower we had.
The more of an effort prayer becomes, the more easily it is neglected. Results which are fatal to spiritual life follow, not immediately, but no less certainly. First, our minds become worldly, and we feel more and more alienated from God, and therefore have less and less about which to speak with Him. Then we develop an unwilling spirit, which always finds pretexts for not praying and excuses for having neglected prayer. Our inner life begins to weaken. The pain of living in sin is not felt as keenly as before, because sin is no longer honestly confessed before God. As a result of this, our spiritual vision becomes blurred, and we can no longer distinguish clearly between that which is sin and that which is not. From now on we resist sin in essentially the same way as worldly people do. They struggle against those sins only which are exceedingly dangerous from the standpoint of their consequences.
But such people have no desire to lose their reputation as Christians. For this reason they try to hide the worldliness of their minds as long as possible. In conversation, as well as in the prayer meeting, they are tempted to use language which is not in harmony with their inner selves. Empty words and affectation now seek to strangle what little prayer life is left in their hearts.
All this and a great deal more is the result of an impaired prayer life. And this is just what has taken place in the lives of many believers.