The Hard Work of Prayer

“Spiritual work is taxing work, and men are loath to do it. Praying, true praying, costs an outlay of serious attention and of time, which flesh and blood do not relish.” – E.M. Bounds

E.M. Bounds reminds us of one of the main reasons we struggle to build a life of prayer – it is hard work! And though we hate to admit it, we are all lazy in such work. We want the results of prayer, but not the work of prayer. We want to see a great revival, but prefer to see it from our lounge chairs rather than from our knees. We say we want to see church gatherings full, but we avoid the work of gathering for prayer. Like the disciples in the Garden on the night Jesus was betrayed, we say we will stand with Jesus, but we sleep when we should pray for our spirit may be willing but our flesh is weak.

It was only a few weeks ago that we concluded the season of Lent. This year I really sensed the Lord calling me to run harder after him, to spend extra time pursuing Him. On one hand, this is wonderful, for what is better than being with Jesus? But on the other hand, laying aside other things and making a priority of prayer is work that our flesh avoids! Whether it is during seasons such as Lent, or just in times on your own, I encourage each of us to have times where we do the hard work of pressing in deeper, spending more time in prayer, putting down the flesh to do the taxing spiritual work Jesus is calling us to. It is through such labors that God sends revival, awakening, and reformation!

In Christ,

Bret