Why do people shy away from prayer? Is it unfashionable? Do only fanatical Christians pray? Is there a fear of being swept away in an uncontrollable tsunami of the Holy Spirit? Do some Christians think prayer is passé, only for children? I don’t really understand why anyone, given the power to transform their life into something better, beyond their imagination, would not take advantage of that source. Yet, that is exactly what God gives us, the power to co-create with the Divine, to live life anew and refreshed, indeed to be part of something few people ever experience: the
That is not to imply that the kingdom has not been given to all of us. It has. Yet, without the power of prayer most folks will miss it, walk past it, sink, drown, and never know the immense gift that was given from the beginning.
In his book, Too Busy Not to Pray, Bill Hybels describes prayer as an “unnatural activity.” He goes on to write:
From birth we have been learning the rules of self-reliance as we strain and struggle to achieve self-sufficiency. Prayer flies in the ace of those deep-seated values. It is an assault on human autonomy, an indictment of independent living. To people in the fast lane, determined to make it on their own, prayer is an embarrassing interruption.
Prayer is alien to our proud human nature. (p. 9)
Why do you think people are reluctant to pray? Is it simply inconvenient, or is there more?
