IS PRAYER A CHORE?

1) Are we struggling to spend time in prayer?
2) Has prayer become a chore or a drudgery?

I won't be surprised if the majority of us answer "yes" to these questions because I too struggle at times to be consistent in my prayer life.
When a prayer meeting is organized - just work out the percentage of members attending.
Just do a quick survey of members who spend at least 15 mins in prayer every day.

If the numbers are high, it is not too surprising because pastors too are having difficulty in this area.
Peter Wagner conducted a survey of 572 American pastors and found that 57 percent of them prayed less than 20 mins a day (Source: Prayer Shield, 1992, pg. 79).
American pastors on average spend 22 minutes in prayer daily (this is not counting Bible Study, reading devotional books, worship - for which the pastor will spend additional time daily).

Why has prayer become a struggle and for some become a chore?

This reflection came to my mind as I happened (another word for divine appointment) to meet a visiting professor from Pakistan. He has since given up his profession in lecturing and is now called by a variety of names - a prophet, an evangelist and a teacher - depending on where he travels. He prophesies, he speaks miracles and healings to people, calls out names, teaches systematically. He really is a PHD both academically and spiritually. The other PHD - Preach, prophesy, heal and delivers. And the basis of it all is that he hears God. And he prays.
To him prayer is not a chore.

So why has prayer become a struggle and even a chore for some of us?

We have forgotten that as we pray, we are also hearing God.
For some of us or perhaps for many of us, because we haven't heard God speaking to us much, prayer has become primarily a time of petitioning and presenting requests to God.
And even then we are not sure if God hears our prayers.
Some who are going through difficult times now think that prayer is "useless."
That is one reason why prayer has become a chore.

But if we see prayer in a different way ...
What if I tell you that God will speak to you and you will hear God today if you pray.
What will we do?
We will immediately pray because we all want to hear God.

I want to tell you that God does speak to us and we will hear God.
We may not be so good at hearing God at first and we may not even be sure we are hearing God.
But practice.
Some twelve years ago, I thought I heard God wrongly in one prophecy / word for me.
And I went against the prophecy because it didn't seem to be happening and I bought a condominium one year before the peak of the property market. And we were caught.
But twelve years later, my wife and I heard the word of the Lord and we are now more certain.
We sold the property at the peak of the market. We were so blessed.

I must share that I don't hear God all the time and that is why I can share the predicament with all of us.
But the visiting prophet was sharing with me - practice.
Practice the spiritual gifts that have been bestowed on us and the fundamental gift of hearing Him.
He loves to speak with us and for us to hear His voice. (I am saying this by faith).

So join me in this learning journey of practicing to hear God in prayer.

Reflect:
Will our prayer life be markedly different if we see our prayer time as a time of hearing God when God speaks to us instead of just presenting our requests and petitions?