Raise your hand if you resonate with this statement – I wish I had a deeper prayer life.
You’re not alone. In a recent survey 94% of respondents said that they had prayed at least once in the last 3 months. In another survey, 2% said they were satisfied with their prayer life. Prayer is something almost all of us do and something all of us wish was better.
I like to imagine this was where the disciples were at when they looked at Jesus praying and asked – Lord, teach us to pray. They saw something powerful in the prayer life of Jesus. They saw a deep connection with God. They saw a life rooted in peace and grace. They saw God do amazing things through Jesus. And they saw that the key to it all was prayer.
If you want the key to life it is very simple – prayer. Prayer is the key to everything we should do or be in life. The start of it all, the foundation of it all is prayer. We like to think that maybe the key to a deeper life with God is service. If we just do good things then we will have a better relationship with God. But service without prayer is just a transaction – we do good things in hopes that God will return the favor. Well then, maybe the key is study. If we just read and study God’s word then we come to a deeper understanding of God. But knowing about God is much different than knowing God personally. That personal knowledge is only found in prayer. What about giving? Would giving of our money or our time deepen our walk with God? Absolutely, but not without prayer. Without prayer that is nothing more than buying favors. Worship? We can sing praise to God, but if it isn’t bathed in prayer than its nothing more than a performance.
Prayer is the key. It is the foundation. And our lives, not just our faith lives but our full and complete lives, are dependent on our life of prayer.
And 94% of us say we pray, yet only 2% of us say that we are satisfied with our prayer life. And in case you are feeling a bit left out, I’m part of that 98% that wishes more in my prayer time. I too feel my prayer life is inadequate. I too feel like I need more.
So where do we go to learn more? Right here, in this model prayer. This is where Jesus teaches us to find more in prayer. This is where we learn and, if we put what we learn into practice, this is where we grow.