Does prayer even matter?

Looking at our daily schedules (mine included at times), I wonder. For as much lip service as we give prayer, it doesn’t seem to rank all that high on our priority list. A million other little things can cause us to postpone our time with God and suffer seemingly little consequence. But are we missing something when we do that?

Prayer brings the power of God into the lives of the people of God. It moves Heaven and earth. It changes the course of lives and the flow of history. It can soften hearts and propel the Kingdom of Heaven forward. It can thwart any plan of the enemy. It is a power that cannot be stopped.

Unless we stop.

It would seem, wouldn’t it, that if we really believed in the power of prayer, we would never cease to pray? But how much of our days is spent in prayer…compared to the time we spend in countless activities that will not impact eternity? If you’re like me, it’s probably fairly often that prayer gets postponed, rushed, or forgotten for most of the day.

When we fail to pray, we have forgotten the power of coming before the throne of God. When our prayers lack passion and consistency, it shows that the Kingdom and glory of God no longer have a hold on our hearts.

But above all, it shows that God is no longer the love of our lives and we are OK with doing life without Him.

Even Jesus—who was fully God—lived in prayerful dependence. The gospels record 21 times in His 3 ½-year ministry that He left what He was doing to spend time alone with His Father. That’s how He could say, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do only what He sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does” (Jn. 5:19).

The disciples, as out of touch as they often were, must have noticed the power of Jesus’ prayer life because, although they never asked Him to teach them how to do miracles or speak with authority, they asked Him to teach them to pray (Lk. 11:1–3).

Is there any path to intimacy with God apart from prayer? I don’t know of one, and apparently Jesus and His disciples didn’t find one, either.

The depth of our relationship with God determines our ability to love others, to live holy lives, and to find joy and peace. There is no power in our lives apart from intimacy with God. And there is no shortcut to an intimate relationship with God. It’s formed in the daily habit of choosing to spend time with Him instead of all those other things that seem urgent.

How is your prayer life? Does it resemble a person in love with the Father and living in dependence on Him… or a rote task to check off your list each day?

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This article was taken in part from a chapter in the book Call to Consecration by Jennifer M. Kvamme.