WHY PRAYER COMES NATURALLY TO THE GODLY

By Dr. Chuck Lawless, Senior Professor of Evangelism and Missions, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

Prayer is one of the most talked-about disciplines in the Christian life, and one of the most

misunderstood. Many believers affirm its importance, yet struggle to experience prayer as life-giving rather than burdensome. Watching the lives of deeply prayerful Christians, however, offers a different picture—one that reveals prayer not as an obligation, but as a relationship and dependence.

I have five heroes in the faith whose lives I want to emulate. Four of them were pastors, and the fifth was a college and seminary professor before retirement. Two are now with the Lord, but I will talk about all of them in the present tense in this newsletter. Let me tell you about these men.

First, all of them ooze the holiness of God. You just know they have a genuine relationship with Jesus that is unwavering. They worship Him throughout the day. Second, they do not miss opportunities to tell others about Jesus, whether here in the United States or around the world on the mission field. I’ve seen them talk about Jesus in restaurants, on college campuses, in office buildings, and even, in one case, a hospital elevator. Third, they so know and love the Word of God that it almost drips off their lips. They memorize the Word not with a memorization strategy, but simply by reading it a lot—having done it for decades, in fact.

What I think about most as I write this article, though, is a fourth characteristic that marks these men: they are the most prayerful men I know. Spend any time with them at all, and you will hear them talk about answered prayer. Regularly, in fact, you will hear them not only talk about prayer; you will also hear them pray—and you will be struck by the holy moment. Prayer seems almost as natural to them as breathing does.

My heroes understand what prayer is. It is, at its core, communicating with God. It is, though, much more than that. As I’ve written in my book, The Potential and Power of Prayer, prayer is “an expression of our relationship with God and a confession of dependence on Him.” On one hand, prayer says, “God, I just love You—so I want to talk to You. I cannot imagine going through a day without having a conversation with You.” On the other hand, prayer says, “God, I just need You—so I must talk to You. I know I cannot walk faithfully through a day without turning to You.”

Moreover, these men know the gift of prayer. While people around the world attempt to speak to man-made gods that have ears that cannot hear (Psa 115:6), we have the privilege of coming boldly to the throne of God through Christ (Heb 4:16). He invites us to ask, seek, and knock (Luke 11:9), and He gives us Himself as our loving heavenly Father. My heroes understand what a humble joy it is to talk to the God of eternity, and they would question why so many believers struggle with prayer. It ought to be so easy and life-giving for those who love God.

That may be where most believers miss the beauty of prayer, in fact. They see it more as a reactive response to a problem than as a proactive act of love. They cry out to God primarily because they face something they can’t fix on their own, not because they just can’t wait to talk to Him in prayer. They may still see prayer as an important spiritual discipline, but they “check the box” more than they “wear out their knees.” I know, because I’ve struggled with the same tendencies.

Frankly, many of us wrestle with prayer because no one has taught us to pray. Our churches have told us to pray, but they’ve not taught us to do it—and the result is almost inevitably failure to live a life of praying “without ceasing” (1 Thess 5:17). Even our church prayer meetings are often marked too little by actual praying. Believers thus often limp along in their Christian life and wonder why daily victory is so hard to achieve.

Maybe that’s one reason why my heroes mean so much to me. They’ve been role models of prayer for me without even knowing they’re doing it. I know them well enough, in fact, to know that they would even deny being good prayer warriors themselves; like most truly prayerful people I know, they humbly stay hungry for prayer and the presence of God. They keep growing in prayer, and their time with God only makes them long for more of Him.

I don’t know about you, but I want the prayerful posture of these men that has resulted in their heartfelt joy and peace while living in a chaotic, mixed-up world. I want to know God like they do, experiencing prayer not as a disciplined drudgery but as an ongoing delight.

Perhaps you do, too. If so, that journey begins by praying right now. P.S. In The Potential and Power of Prayer book we'll explore in depth why prayer so often feels neglected—and how God moves powerfully when His people return to humble dependence on Him. With your gift this month, you’ll receive this powerful resource as our thank-you. And thanks to a $103,000 matching challenge, every dollar you give will be matched dollar-for-dollar! We look forward to sending you a copy as a thank you for your generous March gift: https://bttb.org/donate