It has been said that "of all the Spiritual Disciplines prayer is the most central because it ushers us into perpetual communion with the Father." Despite this recognition of prayer’s importance, prayer often does not receive the attention it deserves in our lives. Many Christians neglect prayer to their own detriment. Prayer’s neglect is so widespread that I doubt there’s a single person reading this article who can honestly say, "My prayer-life is in need of no improvement. It couldn’t be any better."

The paradoxical way in which we accept the importance of prayer and neglect practice of prayer begs the question: why are our prayer-lives not what they should be? In other words, what hinders us from developing a strong prayer-life?

I suppose a better question may be, "Who hinders us?" Without a doubt Satan is one of the two culprits. He knows better than we do that he can keep us from God if he can keep us from prayer. However, since Satan can’t force us not to pray, how does he convince us to rid our lives of prayer?

At times he convinces us to crowd prayer out of our lives. We don’t take time to pray because we think we are too busy. But being busy is really nothing but a smokescreen. No matter how busy you are, you are not too busy to pray. If anything, you are too busy not to pray.

At other times our prayer-lives are hindered by sin. The number one way to stop your prayer-life dead in its tracks is to allow sin to enslave you. If you are alive to sin, then you are dead to God. And if you are dead to God don’t be surprised if prayer is not a part of your life. Each of us is faced with two alternatives—either rid our lives of sin or rid our lives of prayer.

There may be times when we feel that our prayers have gone unanswered because God did not say "yes" to our requests. It’s helpful to remember that God answers our prayers in different ways. Sometimes he says "yes." Sometimes he answers "no," as He did to Jesus (Mt. 26:39) and Paul (2 Cor. 12:8). He might even answer "not yet" or answer by giving us something better than we asked for. We are mistaken if we measure the success of prayer by whether or not we get what we ask for. Prayer is not so much about us convincing God that our will should be done as it is about us accepting that God’s will will be done.

Maybe we don’t have a consistent prayer-life because we feel like we are in control and don’t need God. In turn, we treat prayer like a crutch, a spare tire, a fire extinguisher, or a bottle of headache medicine. Something to be used in case of an emergency. Something to be taken as needed. When we treat prayer in this manner we are abusing this blessing from God.

There are many other potential hindrances to prayer, but one thing is certain. The true culprit responsible for your inconsistent or nonexistent prayer-life is you. Ultimately, nothing and no one can hinder you from praying except you.

Here’s the challenge. Overcome those things that threaten to hinder your prayer-life and determine to pray every day. When you do you’ll be amazed at the advances you will make in your relationship to God.

~Daniel Hope