Praying becomes a chore when we... doubt.

I've just recently rediscovered for myself the joy of praying to God. For the past couple of years, I've found prayer a struggle and a chore! I guess sometimes I only prayed because I felt that I'm obligated to as a Christian. So I will only pray if I feel I really need to get something done; or else, a prayer of few words before sleep.

I think there are three things that contributed to my failure to pray to God often. (1) I doubt the ability of God to answer my prayers, (2) shame and (3) because I'm just plain lazy. Over the next three weeks, I will try and explain why these are the major contributor in my praylessness and how I think they are best tackled so that instead of being a prayer wimp, we can be prayer warriors.

Doubting the ability of God to answer our request
In the western society, we tend to see the world in two separate ways, the physical and the spiritual . Sunshine and rain; houses and cars; boyfriends and girlfriends, we categorize them as belonging to the physical world. But as for God and the devil and all that we cannot see, we put them into the spiritual basket. And because we were brought up by the society that taught us these two worlds don't intersect, we automatically assume that they don't. And because God belongs to the spiritual world and we belong to the physical, we start saying to ourselves that God doesn't really control the gravity of the earth; the rain from the sky, or he can't possibly provide me a with a wife or husband! Because all these things are part of the "real" physical world that God has no control over.

However, the bible teaches us otherwise, it not only teaches us that the spiritual world intersects with the physical world, but that God has control not only the spiritual, but the physical. Why? Because we know that God created everything. "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1); "by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible or invisible" (Colossians 1:16). Not only did God create everything, he also sustains. "In him all things hold together" (Colossians 1:17); "The Son is the radiance of God's glory..., sustaining all things by his powerful word" (Hebrews 1:3). Knowing that God is the creator and sustainer of this world, we can be assure that when we ask him for things, he has the power to give it to us. And because God is the God of the physical and spiritual; natural and supernatural, he can answer our prayers in different ways! God provided water for the Israelites from a rock while they were in the dessert. And God also raised Lazarus from the dead. God is the God of everything, that includes the physical and the spiritual.

Be assure that God does have the power to answer our prayers, whether they're big or small. He's the creator of the universe; nothing is too big for him. And he loves us! (Just look at what he did for us in Jesus!) So there are no requests too small for him either. Paul encourages us to pray "but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God" (Philippians 4: 6). Paul didn't say present your request to God in somethings only; he said present your request to God in everything. So next time don't hesitate to pray, because God will hear our prayers and although he may not say YES to all our requests (yes, he does say no sometimes!), as the creator and sustainer of the universe, he is able answer our prayers.