I wish I could say that every local church pastor is a great prayer warrior — but multiple studies over the years have shown that’s not the case. Even those of us who lead congregations sometimes struggle with staying on our knees. Here are some reasons why:
1. Few of us have prayer warrior role models. I have had three of them over the years, but I realize I’m incredibly blessed by these men in my life. Most pastors I know can’t point to someone who’s modeled a strong prayer life for them.
2. Most churches tell members to pray, but they don’t teach them to pray. In fact, we’re guilty of making that mistake with most spiritual disciplines. When we only tell members what to do without teaching them to do it, we set them up for failure. Many pastors, if we’re honest, must admit that even we have not received much prayer training (as the next item in this list will also show).
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3. Our seminary training often included little attention to prayer. In my own training, I did not take a single class that focused on prayer. More seminaries today at least offer a class that addresses prayer, but the attention given to this critical discipline is often still too surface level.
4. We tend to be “do-ers” before we are “pray-ers.” Few of us quickly and readily do what Jesus did when needs were in front of Him: “Vast crowds came to hear him preach and to be healed of their diseases. But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer” (Luke 5:15-16). Too many of us would have done ministry first, then prayed second.
5. We’ve learned to pray reactively to a need more than pray proactively because of relationship. We respond with prayer when we learn of a need; we’re less likely to turn to God simply because we want to relate to Him. Our prayer is often more ritualistic than relational — and that approach limits our praying.
6. We can do far too much ministry in our own power. We may not want to admit it — and we would seldom verbalize it — but we can go through the motions of ministry, do the work we’re paid to do, and even at times see some ministry “success” without praying much. Our ability to do ministry sometimes gets in the way of our praying.
7. We’re not inclined to tell others that we struggle. After all, we’re supposed to be the church’s spiritual leader, modeling all that it means to follow Christ. Not only do we often have no one with whom we share our struggles, but we also struggle with admitting this deficiency even if we have an accountability partner.
If you wrestle with prayer, I encourage you to consider the Church Answers course, “The Potential and Power of Prayer” built upon my book by the same title. Pastors, let’s keep growing in our praying!
Originally published at Church Answers.
Chuck Lawless currently serves as Professor of Evangelism and Missions and Dean of Graduate Studies at Southeastern Seminary. A conference speaker and author or co-author of more than ten books, including Spiritual Warfare: Biblical Truth for Victory, Discipled Warriors, Putting on the Armor, Mentor, and Spiritual Warfare in the Storyline of Scripture, Dr. Lawless has a strong interest in discipleship and mentoring. You can connect with Dr. Lawless on both Twitter and Facebook.
