One the greatest sins in the church is not necessarily gossip, strife, addictions, adultery, or fornication—even though all these things are sin. What I believe is the greatest sin today, especially in America, is the sin of prayerlessness or leaving God alone.
We can easily become caught in the trap where our only consistent time of prayer is offered before each meal and that’s about it. You know what I mean by the meal prayers, don’t you? “God is good; God is great. I’m so hungry I could eat this plate.” I’ve been so hungry before that sometimes I have felt like eating the plate.
One time when I prayed a quick prayer over my meal, I felt the Lord say, “Now, Hank, did you mean that from your heart?” Like most of us, I didn’t mean or even hear what I had prayed. Since then, I always feel convicted when I pray insincere prayers, even if the food is making my mouth water.
Prayer, however, is about so much more than that. The truth is that we need a deep commitment to prayer that goes far beyond our meals. Additionally, it is far more than praying only when problems arise. I have found prayer becomes easy when you are in some kind of trouble. It seems like you have more energy to reach out to God when you need an answer to a difficult situation. But God has our time consistently, regardless of what circumstances are present in our lives.
The way to develop this type of personal relationship with God—the kind that moves His heart-is to set a time and a place to meet Him. The Lord looks forward to your special time together. You can become determined to not leave God alone by developing a consistent prayer habit. Give God the desire of His heart—He wants to be with you, to spend time with you. Be committed to it until the habit takes a permanent hold in your life.
Talk to the Lord about your desire to be with Him. By verbalizing your commitment, you remind yourself that to have a fruitful walk with God, you must find devoted time to fellowship with Him. Imagine what would happen. If we would refuse to leave God alone that way, miraculous things would begin to take place.
If you would commit yourself to prayer, you will learn the secrets to a powerful prayer life. I have learned the most about prayer by staying with it no matter how I felt or what the present circumstances were.
If you ask Jesus how to pray, He will teach you. Much of my learning about prayer came from just getting alone with God. When you get alone with the Lord, He will teach you-if you are determined to learn.
We do not have to make powerful prayer complicated. After more than 20 years serving God, I keep it simple. I make God real to me. He is real to me. And the more real I make Jesus, the more real He becomes in my life.
Just get alone with the Lord, and He will teach you to pray. Don’t be discouraged if some of your prayer times with the Lord feel dry or unproductive. Begin with a hunger to spend time with Him, and the Holy Spirit will help you succeed.
Adapted from Don’t Leave God Alone by Hank Kunneman, copyright 2008, published by Charisma House. The Bible is filled with examples of great men and women who would not leave God alone. Their cries to God changed their lives and the lives of others and altered the course of history. This book will help you discover the secrets to powerful prayer that can move God to change even what appears impossible in your life. To order a copy click on this link http://www.strangdirect.com/xcart/product.php?productid=17841&source=SWSPON
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