The Sin of PRAYERLESSNESS

I have been reading a book called The Prayer Life by Andrew Murray. This book was written after a ministerial conference in Stellenbosch, South Africa in 1912. The ministers at the conference realized that one of the deepest roots of evil is the sin of prayerlessness. Andrew Murray writes about what they talked about to be victorious in this area.

It was interesting to me that the reasons they struggled with not praying back in the late 1800's and early 1900's are the same reasons we give today: distractions, busyness, sin, ect.... It is not that we don't have time to pray, as we make time for friends to come over when they call. It's a matter of choice.

Just as a doctor takes our pulse, our level of prayer is the pulse of our spiritual life. Prayer is a weapon that can destroy in a fight. We can conquer EVERYTHING by prayer. "Is it any wonder taht Satan does his utmost to snatch that weapon fromn the Christian or to hinder him from the use of it." Satan hinderances: giving us the temptation to postpone or curtail it, bringing wandering thoughts and all sorts of distractions, feelings of unbelief and hopelessness.

"The greatest stumbling block in the way of victory over prayerlessness is the secret feeling that we shall never obtain the blessing of being delivered from it." I know that at the funeral of dear Jessie Farlow, I committed to "picking up the mantle of prayer that she held in her life." I have struggled to do that on and off in my life. I pick it up and put it back down at times. I want to be a prayer warrior, but I have been looking at this all wrong.

Lack of prayer...a sin? But, if we look at it this way, we see that Jesus says "Just as I will cleans you from all other sins, so also will I deliver from the sin of prayerlessness - only do not seek the victory in your own strength."

Andrew Murray continues to say, "What a folly to think that all other blessings must come from Him, but that prayer, whereon everything else depends, must be obtained by personal effort! Thank God I begin to comprehend - the Lord Jesus is Himself in the Inner Chamber watching over me, and holding Himself responsible to teach me how to approach the Father. This only He demands - that I with child-like confidence, wait upon Him and glorify Him."

"Our whole relationship to the Lord Jesus must be a new thing. I must believe in His infinite love, which really longs to have communion with me every moment, and to keep me in the enjoyment of His fellowship. I must believe in His Divine power, which has conquered sin, and will truly keep me from it. I must believe in Him who, as the great Intercessor, through the Spirit, will inspire each member of his body with joy and power for communion with God in prayer. My prayer-life must be brought entirely under the control of Christ and His love. Then, for the first time, will prayer become what it really is, the natural and joyous breathing of the spiritual life, by which the heavenly atmosphere is inhaled and then exhaled in prayer."

This type of relationship, in love with my Savior, is what compells me to prayer. 1 John 1:9 says "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." This includes the sin of prayerlessness. This is how we can "pray without ceasing".

You can read this book online HERE.