Thank you for the question.

I’ll start by saying that I think it’s great you are willing to recognize areas in your personal walk with the Lord that can use improvement. That is definitely the first step in the right direction to working on a closer walk with the Lord. 

Now, concerning your question, I would say that you actually have 2 separate issues here. 1) Motivation to pray—And—  2)Remembering to pray Daily. Therefore, let’s address each one separate since they are really two different issues even though they deal with the same subject, “prayer”.

 Motivation to pray

First of all, feeling unmotivated to make time for prayer is not uncommon. In fact, a majority of believers seem to go through times in their walk where their prayer-life is not what it should be.. There are many contributors to why believers don’t make time to pray. Sometimes they fill their time up with too much to do, thus, they simply don’t feel like there’s anytime time left for prayer. Other times it’s because they're in a slump/depressed OR maybe it’s just plain ol’ laziness. There are a lot of reasons why people don’t feel like/have time for prayer. Nevertheless, these reasons are secondary reasons in my opinion. I believe there’s a “bigger reason” as to why believers struggle at times to make room for a consistent, daily, prayer-life. However, before I address the "bigger reason", I first want to address what prayer is and the importance/reasons for prayer.

So.. What is Prayer? Well, simply put, Prayer is talking with God. However, let’s understand what that seemingly simple statement actually means. Our ability to come before God and talk to Him is because of the bloodshed and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through the bloodshed of Jesus we can have access, through Christ, to the Father.  In other words, through Christ, We can sit down and talk to THE Omnipresent, Omnipotent, Omniscience, ALMIGHTY GOD! Wow!! “Can you think of any greater honor than to talk with the One who rules over ALL creation?”1 Needless to say, it is truly a great privilege that has been given to us.

Now, as if that wasn’t reason enough to be motivated I would like us now to consider the reasons/importance of prayer. I believe sometimes we either lose perspective on prayer OR we simply don’t understand the reasons and importance of having a consistent prayer-life.  So with that being said, let’s take a look.

Communication

First of all, as with all relationships, communication is important for growth. For example, one of the biggest reasons marriages fall apart is because there was a serious lack of communication from either both or one of the spouses. Communication on both sides is key to bringing growth within a relationship. Without communication, the relationship begins to go stale and die off. Therefore, the same thing applies in our relationship with God. It can’t be one-sided, we need to communicate with God if we’re going to grow and come into a stronger personal walk with Him.

Temptation

Another very important reason for prayer is to fight off sinful temptation. Jesus said, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”(Matt. 26:41). Jesus also taught the disciples that when they pray they should also add in their prayer that they not be led into temptation (ref. Matt. 6:13.)  The point is, prayer is an important component in our fight against sinful temptations, which is why Jesus clearly warned us to be watchful and keep in prayer. Plus, let me also add that during these times of prayer God can reveal areas of sin in our lives that we may need to repent or confess before Him, thus, removing even more sin from out lives. 1John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 

Spiritual Warfare

There is a spiritual battle raging all around us. Paul tells us is Eph. 6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”   Unfortunately many Christians don’t equip themselves with the proper amour to combat and stand against the enemy. Therefore, let’s take a look at the amour Paul instructs us to put on. Eph 6:13-18  “13)Therefore take up the whole armor of God, ……….14)…………having girded your waist with truth, …….breastplate of righteousness, 15)…… gospel of peace; 16)……..shield of faith 17)…….helmet of salvation, ….. sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18)praying always with all prayer and supplication …….……..”  We can clearly see here that prayer plays a role in equipping ourselves to stand firm in spiritual warfare. Furthermore, In Mark 9:17-29 we find a situation that involved the Disciples having trouble with casting a demon out of a person. Later that day they asked Jesus why. Jesus answered bluntly: Mark 9:29 “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting” Well, once again we see prayer being key ingredient. Needless to say, there’s no question that prayer plays a significant role in spiritual warfare.

Now, even though “prayer” is the main issue for us right now, I would, however, like to mention that the whole list of amour in Eph. 6:12-18 is very important. Therefore I would encourage you to study it and make sure you are equipped with the full armor of God.

The Bigger Reason

As I said in the beginning, I believe there’s a bigger reason why so many believers struggle at times with their prayer-life. Well, this issue on spiritual warfare leads right into why I believe there is a bigger reason. Simply put, Prayer is so important/effective in a believer’s life that the enemy tries to pull us away from it by using those other techniques (i.e. laziness, depression, too busy, etc.). The enemy knows all to well just how effective a strong prayer-life could be for us. Thus, he uses those other things to distract us and pull us away from spending time in prayer. This is what I believe to be the real reason why so many believers go through these struggles with prayer. Now, having looked at just some of the reasons/importance for prayer we begin to see why the enemy tries to stop us from praying.

I cannot stress out enough just how important having a consistent prayer-life is for/in your walk. It affects every aspect of your life. Consider this fact, Jesus prayed all the time during His ministry here on earth. If Jesus saw a need for a strong/consistent prayer life than how much more are we in-need of one?  I think the answer is obvious. 

In conclusion to this part of your question, I would say that having this better understanding of prayer can help motivate us more to make time for God. However, that’s not to say it wont ever be difficult at times to stay motivated. We will continually meet resistance from the enemy as long as we give in to it. Therefore, I encourage you to stand your ground and be persistent in your prayer life.. Make it a Great Priority.. Make that commitment to pray everyday and stick to it whether you feel like it or not.  By sticking to it you’ll be resisting the temptation. James 4:7 says, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

 Remembering To Pray Daily

This is an area that can be quite easy to fix by using one main method that works very well. That method I'm talking about is having a schedule. There are two ways you can set your schedule.

1)	You could commit to having a set time everyday for prayer. (For example: everyday at 6:00 or 7:00 or whatever).
2)	You could commit to a set timeframe for prayer (For Example: every- morning, lunchtime and/or bed time, etc..)

The idea is to have a scheduled time during the day that you’re committed to spend in prayer.

This is one of the best methods to making sure you remember to pray everyday because it puts you on a daily prayer routine. In Fact, we find this method being used in the Bible. David said in Psalm 55: 17 “Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, And He shall hear my voice.” Another example is: Acts 3:1 “Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.”  So you see, the idea for having it scheduled is to ensure time for prayer. If you stick the the schedule I think you’ll find this method extremely helpful in trying to maintain daily prayer.

Having said all this, it’s important to understand that having set times for prayer may take some getting used to, especially if you’re not used to being on a prayer schedule. Therefore, if you decide to pick certain times, such as 6:00 (for example) then I would recommend getting a watch or something with an alarm on it. This way you can set the time(s) you’ve selected. If you decide to go with a timeframe such as Morning (for example) then you could write a reminder note for yourself and place the note next to somewhere you’ll be at that time. For example: If you decide to take time in the morning to pray, make sure there’s a note by the coffee pot (if you drink coffee) or on the fridge etc... The idea is to put a note somewhere that you’ll see it. Whichever one you choose to do, I would suggest that you do this until you get in the habit of praying around those certain times each day.

In closing,

My hope above all would be that you would walk away with a greater understanding of how important a strong prayer life is for every believer. I encourage you to keep at it.. The more you keep at it, the easier it will be to overcome those feelings of laziness and before you know it, you’ll be well on your way to a very effective prayer life.

If you have any questions, thoughts, or comments please feel free to contact us, we’ll be more than happy to assist in any way we can.

I’ll end by leaving you these passages to consider:

Proverbs 15:8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, But the prayer of the upright is His delight

1 Thessalonians 5:17-18  pray without ceasing, 18) in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you

1 Timothy 2:8 I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting;

Colossians 4:2 Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;

Matthew 6:5-6  [Jesus Speaking] "And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6)But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."

In CHRIST, TRM

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