What's your prayer excuse?

Charles Spurgeon once said that as Christians we should become addicted to prayer.

We know how important it is to pray. We also are excellent at finding excuses why we don't have the time. Primarily, our lives are structured around the things we consider important. When God is important enough to us, the end result will be prayer. The decision to pray is the battle. Once that decision has been made, most of the battle is over.

Common excuses to put off prayer:

I'm too tired. Being tired is really common. You can still spend time in prayer despite your weariness. If you allow weariness to keep you from prayer, you will always be kept from prayer because fatigue is part of this fast-paced life.  

1. Give God the best time of the day. Choose the time of day when you can be the most effective. David would often pray at night (Ps. 63:6); Abraham got up early to pray (Gen. 19:27); religious Jews liked to pray at the ninth hour - which was 3:00 p.m. (Acts 3:1); and Daniel prayed at three different times each day: morning, noon, and night (Dan. 6:10).

2. Pray audibly. Praying out loud helps you stay focused.

3. Pace. If you get drowsy while praying, get up and move around. Pacing is deliberate walking to help you concentrate on God.

4. If you've ever fallen asleep in prayer - simply pray when you wake up.

I'm too busy. You need to develop an attitude about time that is similar to the one you have about money. The more time you give God, the more time you have from God. Following the principle of sowing and reaping, God will give back what you give to Him, then He increases it. Most people are busy, but not too busy to pray.

I'm too dry. You might not feel like praying. If you waited until you felt like praying you would pray very little. Jesus told his disciples that they should always pray and not give up (Luke 18:1). Should is an act of the will. Simply make yourself do it. It's a spiritual discipline. Certainly you should pray every time you feel led to pray, but for the most part, you lead yourself to prayer.

I'm too lazy This is not something you'd like to admit. Prayer itself is not difficult. You will never run out of things to pray for. The biggest obstacle is making the decision to pray. Once you are in the place of prayer, it's not that difficult to pray. The struggle is getting yourself in that position. Getting up out of the easy chair or out of that warm bed in the morning, turning off the TV or radio, and putting yourself in a position to pray is where most of the battle lies.

From He Hears Your Prayers by Ron Auch. Copyright (c) 1998 by New Leaf Press, Green Forest, Ark. Used by permission.