10 Ways To Overcome Prayerlessness

10 Ways To Overcome Prayerlessness

Prayerlessness is what most believers have experienced one time or the other, or are currently experiencing. It is an attack of the devil to make a man believe that he is capable on his own without God. Praying to God means being dependent on God, so prayerlessness is simply telling God that you don’t need Him to help you. 

The issue of prayerlessness did not just start in our fay, it has been from the time of Jesus and His disciples. First, they didn’t know how to pray and asked Jesus to teach them how to pray (Luke 11:1-4). 

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Luke 11:1, KJV 

And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. 

They realized that they couldn’t go far without prayer and asked Jesus to teach them, and He did. 

Another time was when Jesus was on mount Gethsemane in Matthew 26. He went with three of His disciples, but they could not pray, rather, they were sleeping. 

Matthew 26:37-41

37 And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. 

38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. 

39 And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. 

40 And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? 

41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. 

Prayer is hard; it cannot be achieved by the flesh alone but by the spirit of God. There are times that your spirit is so pumped up to pray, but your flesh is weak and you end up not praying. 

There are a lot of things that can cause prayerlessness such as busyness, discouragement, distractions, cares of this world, and unbelief, among others. 

God doesn’t frown against prayerlessness because He knows we’re humans and our flesh can give way anytime. But He doesn’t want us to remain in that state, He wants us to find help in His word to overcome prayerlessness whenever we encounter it. 

10 Ways To Overcome Prayerlessness

1. Repent of your prayerlessness 

Prayerlessness is a sin because God commanded us to pray always without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Prayer is not just about getting things from God, but to build a relationship with Him. He desires intimacy with us and the one way we can achieve that is through prayer. So when we’re not praying, we’re cutting off from Him. The first step to overcoming prayerlessness is to repent of it and tell God you’re sorry. When you repent, it shows that you know you’re in the wrong and you’re ready to work on it. 

2. Eliminate distractions 

Distraction is one of the factors that hinder believers from having a consistent prayer life. There are many distractions in this world, and if you truly want to pray effectively, you have to get rid of them. Jesus, our role model, also separated Himself from distractions whenever He wanted to pray in the Bible. 

Luke 6:12 

And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. 

3. Build your faith in God

Most times, the reason you’re not praying is because you don’t have faith that God can answer your prayers. You believe worrying about the problems will solve them rather than praying about them. But the Bible says in 1 Peter 5:7, 

Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 

Prayer is a language of faith in God’s promises. It is acknowledging that God can do what He says He’ll do through His word and by His spirit. Building your faith in God helps to strengthen your prayer life. But how do you then build your faith? This has been answered in the scriptures. 

Romans 10:17 

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 

You build your faith by studying and meditating on God’s words consistently. When your faith is awake and alive, you tend to pray more often and it is no longer a burden to you because it comes from a place of understanding now than obligation.

4. Have a different orientation about prayer 

Prayer is not only about asking for things from God, but about building intimacy with Him. Many believers do not pray until they have a problem. They come to god when they have something to ask and once they’ve received it, they shut God out. It is not supposed to be. God wants intimacy with man, and that is why He established the channel of prayer. Yes, you pray to ask for things from God but that is not the only reason. Until you change your orientation about prayer, you will always have to struggle with prayer.

5. Train yourself to pray 

The devil cannot prompt your heart to pray at any time. So, when next you have a prompt to pray, you should know it is the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit brings a prompt in your heart to pray, but when you do not yield, there’s nothing He can do about it. Sometimes, you don’t even need to know why you need to pray, but once you have that urge to separate to pray, yield immediately. The more you yield, the more the Holy Spirit brings more promptings in the days ahead; and vice versa.

6.  Seek counseling 

There are certain spiritual challenges that you can overcome by yourself, but there are other times when you need to seek counseling from a higher authority. You may think you have all the answers but opening up to someone may be all you need to overcome that problem. The counselor could be your local pastor, spiritual parent, or a co-believer. Prayerlessness is a big deal in your spiritual life and you have to treat it with seriousness. 

7. Be accountable 

You need someone to be accountable to if you want to overcome prayerlessness. The person should be more disciplined than you in the place of prayer, and you report to the person regularly about how your prayer life is going and how the Holy Spirit is helping you. It could be a friend, your spouse, a prayer partner or a group of believers. 

8. Ask God for strength 

As I mentioned earlier, prayer is not something done by the strength of man. Your spirit may be willing but your flesh is weak. To overcome prayerlessness, you need to ask God for the strength you need. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you, that is His job. 

Romans 8:26 

Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 

9. Spend time praying regularly 

You don’t learn to pray by reading about it. you learn to pray by actually praying. And the more you spend time in prayer in faith, the easier it is for you to pray always. That is why Jesus told His disciples to “pray without ceasing.” Once you fall out of prayer, it becomes difficult for you to come back. But consistency is the key. 

10. Be disciplined 

Most times, all you need is discipline to overcome prayerlessness. Be disciplined in your prayer life. Have a structure that works for you. If you need to physically leave your comfort zone to pray, then do it. read more of the word of God, as it helps you to have more faith and confidence while praying.