Incredibly, God invites us to bring any need we face directly to His throne: “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” (Philippians 4:6).

This invitation is especially remarkable when we consider that it is from the God who:

• created the universe with mere words (Hebrews 11:3).
• raised Christ from the dead (Ephesians 1:18–20).
• already performed a miracle of rebirth in our lives (Ephesians 2:1–6).

This is the God who has the obvious creativity and power to care for any need we have. And He invites us to bring our needs before Him.

Why, then, do we not pray?

I’m sure there are many reasons, but the following three hindrances are ones that I have found to be common among many Christians and have had to fight in my own life:

1. Pride

Like a little child who wants to care for his own needs without help, we sometimes have too high of an opinion of our ability to solve problems. We don’t recognize God’s superior power, and we think we can handle our lives on our own.

2. Unbelief

Sometimes, we simply don’t believe that God would answer if we did pray. Instead of bringing our requests before the Lord, we worry over them, disregarding the hundreds of promises in God’s Word that He will hear us and help us when we pray.

3. Busyness

It’s all too easy to fill our lives with important activities and ministry while neglecting the most important activity of seeking God’s face and power.

I’ve never met a mature Christian who didn’t feel the need to grow in the area of prayer. Yet, in spite of our pride, unbelief, and neglect, our Lord still invites us to “come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).