When we first arrived, I found myself praying consistently and frequently. There were so many needs in our lives. But I noticed something happening in the past 2-3 weeks–the consistency and fervency of my prayer life has decreased. Why has this happened? I think because we have less perceived needs.
There is a wonderful Proverb that reads (30:8b-9a):
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
9 lest I be full and deny you
and say, “Who is the Lord?”
Here, the author asks the Lord for just enough from Him so that he would not be too self-reliant. If the Lord gives him enough to make him “full,” he may deny the Lord and act as if he doesn’t need God.
Isn’t this often the case with us? We have a need so we cry out to God for help. He supplies by His grace. But when our needs are supplied, our prayers decrease. Eventually we have a need again and the cycle repeats.
Perhaps I’ve been praying wrongly. Perhaps I need to be praying for God to supply for our need, but not so much that we lose our need of Him.
How about you? Do your prayers increase or decrease based on your perceived needs? Do you need to join me in confessing that you’ve been so comfortable lately that you’ve lost your need of God?
Pastor Jacob’s Blog 