What is the cause of prayerlessness, “What is the cause of this almost universal state of prayerlessness among believers today?” I answer, It is a life lived “according to the flesh” and “not according to the Spirit.” It is impossible to pray in the Spirit and at the same time walk after “the flesh.” If a man is sick and desires healing, it is of prime importance that the true cause of the sickness be discovered. This is the first step toward recovery. In like manner, it is very important that we realize fully what is the root of this evil of prayerlessness. Scripture teaches us that there are but two conditions possible for the Christian. One is a walk according to “the Spirit,” the other a walk according to “the flesh.” These two powers are in hopeless conflict with each other. Thousands, today, began in the supernatural by receiving the new birth; yet their ordinary life is not lived according to “the Spirit,” but according to “the flesh.” Paul inquires of the Galatians: “Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” (Gal. 3:3).

The Spirit must be honored not only as the Author of a new life, but also as the Leader and Director of our entire walk; otherwise we are what the apostle calls “carnal.” Let every man be born of the Spirit, but Paul says, “Let us also walk in the Spirit” (Gal. 5:25).It is necessary that each individual shall mention his sin by name if his conscience is to do its work and he is to have the “contrite spirit” which God loves, and with which He dwells, and which is essential to communion with God. There is probably no single sin which most of modern ministers and Christians ought to acknowledge with deeper shame than the awful sin of prayerlessness. You may ask: What is it that makes prayerlessness such a great sin? Many, because of their blindness and lack of spiritual life, look upon it as merely a weakness. There is so much talk about lack of time, and of distractions, that the deep guilt of prayerlessness is not recognized. It is of infinite importance that all shall see the sinfulness of prayerlessness.

Prayer tell what is the condition of the heart. Fellowship with God in prayer is the very essence of the Christian life. The sin of prayerlessness is a proof for any Christian that the soul is in deadly sickness and weakness. What a tragedy is the modern feebleness of the church to fulfill her calling! How wicked is her indifference to the millions of unsaved whom Christ entrusted to her, that she might make known to them His salvation.

What is the reason why many thousands of Christian workers in the world have not a greater influence? Nothing but this – the prayerlessness of their service. They are often very active, but not “in the Spirit.” In their study and work, in their preaching and conversation with people, they lack that ceaseless prayer which brings down from on High, the only power which can accomplish the will of God. In the case of every believer it is nothing but the sin of prayerlessness which is the cause of the lack of a powerful spirit life.

The Loss the Church Suffers As a Result of the Prayerlessness of the Minister

It is the business of the minister to train believers up to a life of prayer. But how can a leader do this who is himself without the spirit of prayer and who does not receive, every day, out of heaven, abundant grace for himself and for his work? The minister cannot lead a congregation higher than he is himself. He cannot with enthusiasm point out a way in which he is not himself walking or living.

How many thousands of Christians there are today who know next to nothing of the blessedness and delight of fellowship with God in prayer! How many others there are who do know something of it, and long to know more, but in the preaching they hear they are not persistently urged to press on to full victory. The reason is simply and only that their minister understands so little about the secret of powerful prayer. So many of them in these days do not give prayer the place in their service, which in the nature of the case, and in the will of God, is indispensably necessary.

The great need of evangelism is the obtaining of men and women who will give themselves to prayer for the salvation of souls. God is eager and able and ready to save and bless the world He has redeemed if His people would cry unto Him day and night. How can congregations be brought to this unless there comes, first, an entire change in ministers, and that they begin to see that the indispensable thing is not preaching, not pastoral visitation, not church work, but fellowship with God in prayer till they are clothed with power from on High – the only power that can do the works of God? What a glorious place every minister and every layman may occupy by first getting the victory over this root of a thousand evils; so that with courage and joy, in faith and perseverance they can go on with God. Prayerlessness is sinful because it prevents or cancels all that prayerfulness can accomplish; and prayer can accomplish all that God has promised to do. “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James. 5:16).

Moral and Immoral Flesh

A moral life can be lived in the flesh the same as an immoral life, but both are sinful. Paul tells us that “They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Gal. 5:24). “The flesh” cannot be improved or sanctified. “The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Rom. 8:7).  The only way to keep out of the flesh is to “walk in the Spirit.” Paul says, “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16). It is saddening to consider how many believers there are today who seldom think earnestly about the deep and immeasurable sinfulness of “the flesh.” “In me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing” (Rom. 7:18).

The Christian who is carnal rests satisfied with the prayer of habit; but the glory, the blessedness of secret prayer is a hidden thing to him until he sees that “the flesh,” in its disposition to turn away from God, is the archenemy which makes a praying heart impossible for him. When a Christian does not yield entirely to the leading of the Spirit, he lives, without knowing it, under the power of “the flesh.”  We are not standing in a right relationship to the Lord while the sin of prayerlessness has power over us. A right relationship to the Lord Jesus, above all else, includes prayer, with both the desire and the power to pray according to God’s will.

The Inner Chamber of Prayer Is the Storm-Center on the Battlefield

The devil knows that eloquent sermons, attractive services, pastoral visitation, and all the rest cannot damage him or his kingdom if prayer is neglected. Jesus is ready to help you in prayer. He yearns to shed abroad His love in your heart and to bestow the grace of prayer. Just as He will cleanse us from all other sins, so also will He deliver us from the sin of prayerlessness, only we must not seek the victory in our own strength. Expect everything from Him. Just as He will give all other grace in answer to prayer, so above all He will bestow the grace of a praying heart.

What folly to think that all other blessings must come from God, but that prayer, upon which everything else depends, must be obtained by personal effort! We must realize that the Lord Jesus is Himself in the inner chamber, watching over us, and holding Himself responsible to teach us how to pray. We must in child-like confidence wait on Him, expecting this blessing. Deliverance from the sin of prayerlessness is a blessing of unspeakable worth. What a blessing to live as true children of a King in communion with their Father, and to manifest something of the character of our Lord Jesus in the holy fellowship with His Father which He had when He was on earth!  What a blessing is ours when the hour of prayer in the inner chamber is the happiest time in the whole day for us because God is using us to carry out His plans, and making us fountains of blessing for the world around us. No one can experience so much of the joy of the Lord as those who live a life of prayer. Jesus said, “Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full” (John 16:24).

Let us remember that from a defective spiritual life nothing better can be expected than a defective prayer life. It is in vain for us, with our defective spiritual life, to endeavor to pray better. It is an impossibility. The Scriptures teach us to believe in Christ’s infinite love, and that He longs to have communion with us every moment and to keep us in the enjoyment of His fellowship. Christ, the great Intercessor, waits to inspire each member of His Body with joy and power for communion with God in prayer. Jesus who loved us and died for us longs to have fellowship with us every moment of the day and keep us in the enjoyment of that fellowship. This alone will give us power as intercessors, and keep us free from the sin of prayerlessness.

God has done His utmost to make prayer as natural and as effectual as though it were the cry of a child to an earthly father. When prayer, for which God has made such provision, is regarded by believers as a task and a burden it is proof that the Holy Spirit is, to them, to a great extent a stranger. In every true prayer the Triune God takes part, the Father who hears, the Son in whose name we pray, the Spirit who prays for us and in us.