5 Surprising Results of Not Praying

These things may be surprising but they are each a result of not building your prayer life:

1. You will not appear as smart.

James says that if we lack wisdom we should ask God for wisdom and He will give it. The reverse of that is that if we don’t ask for wisdom we may not get the insight we need. Are we not getting the benefits of asking for wisdom?

2. You have to overcome more temptation than needed.

This may seem surprising, but it seems clear from Jesus’ teaching on prayer. He encourages his disciples to pray, “Lead us not into temptation.” This would imply that if we don’t pray that we may face more temptation than if we had. I think I will pass on unneeded temptation, thank you very much!

3. You have less of the things that you need in life.

With the same teaching on prayer about temptation Jesus teaches them to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” As Mark Batterson says, “The greatest tragedies in life are the prayers that go unanswered because they go unasked.” We shouldn’t miss out by not asking.

4. Your life will be more boring.

Again this may be surprising but true prayer helps to prevent boredom in life. Part of the life of prayer is listening prayer. When we pray God promises, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go.” (Psalms 32:8 NIV) I have found that when I listen He often sends me on an adventure that gets my heart pounding. What adventure in life will we miss by not giving Him that space?

5. God may seem further away.

It should be no surprise, but sometimes it is, that spending time in prayer makes us more aware of the presence of God. Henry Blackaby in his classic book Experiencing God says that, “True prayer does not lead to an encounter with God; it is an encounter with God.” How often has God seemed far away when He wouldn’t if I have pressed into a time of prayer?

This post is not to make you feel guilty, but rather encourage you to take advantage of turning each of these negatives around by building your prayer life.

If you want to build your prayer life, why don’t you sign up for the blog?

How to Meditate on the Bible and Find Success

man sitting in the top of the mountain

I love this quote:

When you think about a problem over and over in your mind, that’s called worry. When you think about God’s Word over and over in your mind, that’s meditation. If you know how to worry, you already know how to meditate! You just need to switch your attention from your problems to Bible verses. The more you meditate on God’s Word, the less you will have to worry about. –Rick Warren The Purpose Driven Life page 90

 

 

Bible meditation sometimes is looked down on because it has been high jacked by eastern religions. But we really can’t let that happen because meditating on God’s word can powerfully change our lives. Don’t be intimidated by the idea as the quote says above, “if you know how to worry you know how to meditate.” Let me give you some simple steps. Even these steps may seem a little involved-I am just giving detail in order for you to see it in slow motion.

1.  Find the passage.

This may be as simple as grabbing the verses or story that stands out to you when you are reading your normal reading time. You may pick a few verses or read a large story quickly for themes. If you are new to the idea I recommend a story maybe one about someone’s encounter with Jesus. Another fun way to do this would be to pick a song that is Bible, like the group the Sons of Korah, to listen to a chapter all day long.

2. Get yourself in the story.

This is very easy if it is an actual story of something that happened in the Bible. Begin to imagine that you are each of the people that the story talks about. Imagine you are David walking toward Goliath. Then go on and imagine that you are Goliath and see this small guy coming toward you. Think about the rest of the Philistine army as they watch. Then jump to the Israelites and King Saul.

3. Ask lots of questions.

What emotions would I have felt if I was in this account? What would have been going through my mind? Why would I have song this Psalm? What kind of things is God trying to get across? The more questions you can ask the more the verse or story will come alive.

4. Find God’s activity in the verses or story.

Ultimately when we come to the Bible our focus should be on God. What is He up to? What is He showing us about Himself? This kind of thinking can radically change your life.

5. Look for your action.

When you begin to see God in the verses or story you will be called to a response. Seeing God’s compassion will challenge me to be more compassionate. Seeing the strength of God may call me to trust Him. Now you are seeing the word of God change your life.

Start Somewhere

In this video I give you the place to start if God has put a dream in your heart.

Before you leave and think this doesn’t apply to you let me encourage you to realize this is true no matter what you are working on in your life:

You want a better marriage, maybe you need to buy a book on building your marriage. Start Somewhere.

You want to exercise more, maybe simply start by taking the stairs over the elevator. Start Somewhere.

You want to eat healthier, maybe you start with a little protein first thing when you wake up. Start Somewhere.

You want a better prayer life, begin by praying while you brush your teeth. Start Somewhere.

You want better relationships, start by committing to one church event other that Sunday AM. Start Somewhere.

I hope that you are beginning to get the idea. Charles Duhigg in his book, The Power of Habit, talks about keystone habits. These are habits that become the foundation of changing a bunch of habits. But again you have to start somewhere.

In the video you hear me talking about some action for 20 seconds. This is a reference to a quote from the movie We Bought A Zoo.

So before you go on with your day, send an email to ask someone to be your accountability partner, update your status committing to being at the prayer meeting once a month, or buy the book on prayer. Start Somewhere!