Excuses for Not Praying

excuses-for-not-praying

So many Christians give excuses for not praying. They think that they are too busy, that their prayers won’t change anything, or that God doesn’t command us to pray. They don’t realize that they are walking in disobedience to God, and that they will not walk in victory over sin unless they are people of prayer.

My women’s prayer Bible study brainstormed a list of reasons why people don’t pray. After each reason, I debunk each of these excuses, and giving true reasons that you should pray. Afterwards I give you an audio workshop on prayer, giving examples and bringing to life how we are to avoid excuses in our lives.

Excuses for Not Praying

  1. Not enough time. Rebuttal: God gives our time back and helps us to prioritize what is truly important. God energizes us to accomplish what we need to do.
  2. Mind wanders aimlessly. Rebuttal: Take control over your mind. You don’t have to be ruled by aimless thoughts. Praying out loud or writing down a stray thought can help to keep your mind focused.
  3. Apathy, not caring about people. Rebuttal: Praying causes you to love others, so pray anyway, and the love will come. Ask God to help you care. God will change your heart if you ask Him.
  4. Selfishness, obsessed with our own lives. Rebuttal: Repent of the sin of selfishness.
  5. Fear of having sin exposed. Rebuttal: You must have your sin exposed and confessed for God to get rid of it, to have a real relationship with God. God will not hear our prayers when we are walking in overt sin. (Psalm 66:18)
  6. Angry at God. Rebuttal: If you are angry at God for allowing your child to die or allowing you to go through other horrendous pain, be honest with God, and ask Him to remove your rage, and He will. God is not out to harm you, but to draw you closer to Himself. (Jeremiah 29:11)
  7. Guilt. Rebuttal: Learn the difference between true guilt and false guilt. True guilt is from something specific you haven’t repented of yet. False guilt is a general feeling of defeat from the enemy.
  8. God is silent; He is not answering my prayers. Rebuttal: Maybe God is answering in a different way than you expected.
  9. Belief that it doesn’t change things. Rebuttal: Repent of not believing God. James 1:6-8 says a double-minded man gets nothing. Ask God for more faith to believe that He is powerful enough (and loves you enough) to answer your prayers.
  10. Laziness, too much of a burden. Rebuttal: Repent of the sin of laziness.
  11. Boredom. Rebuttal: Wow… you’re talking with the Creator of the universe, the All-Powerful, and you are bored? Ask God to reveal Himself to you, and you will never be the same. Get to know Him through Scripture, and you will be amazed by Him!
  12. Improper understanding of God as Father. Rebuttal: Unconsciously we relate to God the Father with the same patterns that we saw in our earthly fathers. If your earthly father was distant, you feel distant. If your earthly father was abusive, you think God is out to get you. If your earthly father was hard to please, you always feel like you have to perform for God. Get to know God for who He is through Scripture.
  13. Tired, exhaustion. Rebuttal: God gives inward strength. Are we spending our strength on things that don’t matter for eternity?

Here is the audio workshop, where I explain how to overcome each of these excuses:

To keep up with prayer posts, here is my Prayer Facebook Page.

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4 Responses to “Excuses for Not Praying”

  1. I love what you have to say about boredom! If our relationship with God is boring it’s because we aren’t pursuing Him in the ways that we should. God is far from boring.

    And a good solution to “not having enough time” is to invite God into your day. We don’t always have to sit still to pray. He can be a part of your car ride, your laundry folding, your office work, even a trip to the bathroom. God will meet us where we’re at if we just put in the effort. Another solution is maybe getting rid of some of the things that keep your time captive. It’s up to us to prioritize how we use our time. Maybe that tv show can wait.

  2. Andrea says:

    I think it’s the laziness that’s my issue

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