Prayer is a spiritual discipline that most Christians are familiar with but most of us are frustrated with at times. Why don’t Christians pray more?

We don’t know how. If you didn’t grow up in church, or even if you did, praying can be incredibly intimidating, especially if you grew up in a formal church where the pastor prayed and he always threw in these $3 theological words like “Dearest thou-et Jehovah Jireh, I pontificate the ornate array of your trinitarian sanctification Holy Ghost something something.” It can make it seem like you need a seminary Bible degree just to pray right.

We don’t think we can. Maybe you grew up in or near a religious environment where it was taught that not everyone could pray, that’s what the priests are for. Or maybe you thought that your sins messed you up enough where God wouldn’t hear your prayers anymore. I remember several times as a pastor, when I was at funerals, you’d get people from every walk of life. There was usually some older gentlemen who’d never darkened the door of the church in decades, but he knew the recently deceased and the whole prospect of death would rattle him and make him think. And over the years some of them would ask me to pray on their behalf. “When you talk to the man upstairs, please mention my name,” or something to that effect, as if they couldn’t talk to God on their own. In the minds of some people, there is no bat phone, there is no direct connection to God.

We don’t think it works. Or we don’t think we’re doing it right, because whatever or however we’re praying. It’s not working. Your life isn’t getting any easier, you didn’t pass that test, your family member isn’t well yet, you haven’t won the lottery. You asked God for something and He didn’t give you what you asked for, so does prayer even work?

QUESTION: What’s been your experience with prayer?

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Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ Matthew 4:4

Let’s say you had a plate of food you wanted to dive into. How would you do it? Let’s say this food represents Scripture, how do I get into it? It’s not rocket science.

You value it. You value food when you take time out of your busy day to stop and eat. If you go too long without food, your body begins to break down. If you go too long without Scripture, your soul begins to break down. That’s why so many people live broken lives, they just don’t know it’s their soul that is starving. The first step in eating this meal is valuing it enough to put it in front of me. In the same way, you need to value Scripture enough to carve out time to get into it everyday.

You prepare it. Just like you don’t eat raw meat, you need to prepare it, you need to prepare your meal, you need to prepare your heart before opening Scripture. Just glancing at a quick verse on your way out the door because your rushed versus taking time to slowly read and ponder Scripture is like the difference between eating a well-prepared steak and cheese omelet and swallowing a raw egg yolk on the way out the door because you’re late for work. Sure, both are food, but one is much more enjoyable.

And like you prepare your own food most of the time and then you like to splurge and let someone else prepare it for you at a restaurant, it’s nice to go to places like church or a Bible study group and allow someone like a preacher or teacher to prepare a meal of Scripture for you. It’s a nice flourish to complement what you’re doing throughout the week.

You consume it. This is generally understood, but if I want to eat something, I’ve actually got to put it in my mouth. Same with Scripture. You need to consume it. Read it. Listen to it on your way to work. Memorize Scripture. Listen to others teach on it. However you can consume it, consume it.

You chew it. This is important because if you take a huge bite of steak and swallow it whole, you’re likely to choke yourself. You have to chew it, you have to break it down. That’s more than just reading Scripture, it’s studying it, it’s breaking it down, it’s trying to understand it, it’s asking questions, it’s figuring things out. Scripture isn’t meant to be swallowed whole. We need to chew it, study it, until we understand it.

You swallow it. Again, this is understood but it needs to be said. If I take a bite of this, and chew on it and chew on it until it’s broken down, but then I spit it all back up, have I really eaten it? Many times people hear God’s word, they consume it, but they don’t obey it, and it’s like they’re spitting it back up rather than swallowing it.

You enjoy it with others. The best meals are ones enjoyed with others. God created eating as a communal opportunity to build relationships. Scripture is the same way. You’ll enjoy it more when you study it with others, which is why we put such an emphasis on community life, where people break up in smaller groups and study Scripture together. If you’re not involved in community life, you’re missing out!

You repeat the process. A meal, as exquisite as it might be, is good for a few hours, then you get hungry again. In the same way, Scripture needs to be consumed on a regular basis, not just once or twice a month at church.

So, think of getting into God’s Word like eating a meal. Value it enough to get into it, consume it, chew it up until you understand it, swallow it, enjoy it with others, and repeat.

If you’d like to connect and see more of the content I’m working on, be sure to like my church Facebook page. You can also find me on social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

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Most people understand that Christians believe the Bible is important, but why is it important? What value does it hold in the life of the believer?

1. The Bible is God’s written revelation of Himself to humanity. If you want to know about God, the Creator of the Universe, the one who made you on purpose for a purpose, then dig into this book. We find the story of creation, of sin, we see God speaking time and time again. We see God in this book, and if you want a guaranteed place of encounter where you can meet God on a regular basis, He’s right there in Scripture.

2. The Bible records the history of Israel, Jesus and the early church. God has existed long before you were born and will continue to exist long after you die. God has been interacting with humanity for millennia, and the Bible contains the history of Israel in the Old Testament, the history of the early church in the New Testament, and most importantly, the history of the moment in time when God Himself visited this planet as a man, Jesus Christ.

3. The Bible is a conduit for the Holy Spirit to work in your life today. The Bible is so much more than a history book. It’s living and active today. When you dig into Scripture, you’ll begin to feel challenged, convicted, your eyes will be opened. It’s what happens on Sundays when you sit in church and listen to a sermon, and you start feeling convicted, and you know you need to make some changes in your life. That’s not the preacher, that’s not emotional manipulation. That’s the Holy Spirit working through Scripture to get a hold of your life. That’s the power of Scripture.

If you’d like to connect and see more of the content I’m working on, be sure to like my church Facebook page. You can also find me on social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

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Even if you’re not a church person, it probably wouldn’t surprise you to know that a great way to grow in your faith is to dig into Scripture and read your Bibles. It’s not like this is some big secret. And it’s not that no one has access to Scripture. We’ve got it on our smartphones. Everyone in America has access. So why don’t we read Scripture more?

1. We don’t make the time. We are busy people. Sure we have the Bible on our smartphones, but we also have all of our social media apps on our smartphones, and what app gets opened first? Many of us know we need to get into God’s Word, and we’ll do it as soon as we have the time, but in today’s age, there’s no free time. We have to make time.

2. We don’t know how to dig into Scripture. Some us feel lost. Maybe you didn’t grow up in church or in a religious environment. So you started reading your Bible at the beginning, which makes sense. Genesis was good, lots of stories. Exodus was fine, got a little sluggish at the end. Then you got to Leviticus, the third book in the Bible. That is the graveyard for most people trying to read the Bible from cover to cover. All of these laws, most of them don’t seem relevant. Where do you start? What do you read? Many people just don’t know how to dig into Scripture.

3. We don’t appreciate the value and beauty of Scripture. That’s not on you, that’s on me. That’s on me and everyone else who teaches Scripture. Too many Christians see the Bible as boring or irrelevant, and nothing they’ve heard from preachers and teachers has changed their mind. How many of you have sat through a boring message or sermon and you’ve struggled through it? Teachers of the Bible must do a better job capturing and conveying the value and beauty of Scripture to those we teach. 

If you’d like to connect and see more of the content I’m working on, be sure to like my church Facebook page. You can also find me on social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

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