Why don't we pray more?

I often ask myself the question "why don't I pray more?" It seems that I am like a lot of other people in the world that only pray when I need something, when I am hurt, when things just are not going my way...or I pray for God to get me out of a situation, help meet my needs, give me strength...you see what I am saying. But why don't I pray just to give God thanks and praise for things like my job, my friends, my car, a nice home to live in...it seems that we tend to forget those kinda things on a daily basis. As I was thinking about all of this I began to think of why people don't pray more. I think that a lot of people are disappointed in their prayers and feel that God has not answered them. Have you ever asked God for something and not gotten it or asked God to allow something to happen and it never happened? Part of the reason could be that it is not in Gods timing or maybe we ask God for something we are not ready to receive yet.

Have you ever had "that one friend" or "that one family member"? who always asks for stuff? Example... Hey man I forgot my wallet can you pay for me this one time, dont worry I'll pay you back. Or how about this one...I just need a place to stay for a few weeks but it will be like you'll never know I'm here and dont worry I can help with bills and stuff. You know the kind of person I am talking about? That one person who always goes out but can never afford it...you know? They ask and ask and say that they will repay you but never do. They say they will help but never help. They borrow something but never return it...They say one thing when they need something but when its all over it seems like they forgot or just don't care. We do this a lot in our prayers. We ask God for something and say "God if you do this one thing for me, I will________. go to church more, or volunteer at a homeless shelter, I'll donate money to some charity...We fill in that blank with something. How often have you found yourself doing this but never holding up your end of the deal? I know I have. We go on with life and forget. Or we don't get what we asked God for and we get upset with Him. Sometimes we go on for months or maybe years and stop praying because we are upset...what a backwards way of thinking. God is not like an ATM with no limit. We shouldn't just pray and go to Him when we need something. We should pray all the time! Not just asking Him for stuff but giving him thanks and praise. All relationships start with conversation. Our relationship with The Father is the same. God wants to hear from us. And here is the best part GOD WANTS TO TALK TO YOU TOO! How awesome is that! The God of everything wants to speak to us. Amazing when you stop and think about it. In my own life I have started thinking of prayer as a normal, everyday conversation between two people. This helps me get my head around the idea of talking to the creator of all things.

Someone might ask though "well if God is all knowing, then He knows that I am going say in my prayers so why even pray? He knows my heart right? Here is the thing...God does know but we have free will. God will always love us no matter what... but we need to make the choice if we are going to love him back. We make the that choice in our lives. If you have ever loved someone you know that you want to talk to/be around that person all the time. Our relationship with God is the same. If you love Him ,why not talk to him? Why wouldn't you want him to speak to you? The more you talk the closer you become. But I know in my own life it is a challenge sometimes to know what to pray or how to pray. I have found that I just start by thanking Him for who He is and who I am in Him...then somehow the rest just flows right out of my mouth.

Another cool thing is that God answers prayers. I don't think He will answer all of them but He knows what is good for us and He will provide what we need at any certain time. But God does answer prayers! Recently my generation has seen a big worship movement. Their are countless worship conferences, worship concerts, worship bands...100 years ago most churches didn't even sing during their services. But now it is a big deal. The worship movement has really exploded onto the seen. Don't get me wrong I love worship but wouldn't it be cool if the next big movement was prayer. What if people all over the world committed to praying and fasting? We would see a big change because our relationship with the Lord would so much stronger! We would understand him more.

God wants to teach us something new everyday but we will never learn if we don't talk and listen. To me...that is what prayer is all about.