A few more prayer maxims from Batterson… and some comments from me:
If you don’t establish a PRAYER HABIT you’ll never break the SIN HABIT. You’ve probably heard it said that “sin will keep you from prayer or prayer will keep you from sin.” Confession is not something we do well. We have a hard time admitting that we are wrong. But sin will short circuit our walk with God. A strong prayer life includes a time of allowing God’s Spirit to search our hearts and reveal areas of sin. But if we don’t have a habit of prayer God never gets a chance to do this. I liken it to using dental floss. I don’t like to do it but I know that I need to do it because there is stuff clinging to my teeth and gums that will wreak havoc in my mouth. I might not notice it but my dentist sure will and there will be a painful price to pay. I need to pray because unless I do there is decay happening that will build up and destroy my relationship with God. There are sin habits in my life that will only be broken when I get before God and allow His Spirit to go to work.
Prayer is the difference between THE BEST YOU CAN DO and THE BEST GOD CAN DO. When I do not pray I am essentially saying to God that I can handle life on my own – that my strength is sufficient to deal with everything that will come my way. And it is – until it isn’t! Then I find out very quickly how much I need God. It is a humbling thing to admit our neediness. But isn’t that exactly where God wants us to be? In an ongoing state of neediness – drawing on the resources of His strength and letting Him use us as we are fueled and energized by Him. Prayer gives me a chance to express to God that I cannot do it on my own; that I indeed do need Him; that apart from Him I can do nothing.
I better wrap this up ’cause I just realized something – I really need to go pray.