Proverbs 24:30–31 says,
“I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.”
Laziness leaves the vineyard filled with weeds, unprotected, and fruitless.
What would it look like if you could view your prayer life as a vineyard or garden? Would it be green and fruitful? Or would it be filled with weeds and thorns? Would the gates and fences be strong and standing or broken down and in disrepair?
Proverbs 20:4 says,
“The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.”
And Proverbs 22:13 tells us,
“The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.”
What “good” excuses do you have for not praying?
Our sinful, lazy flesh will always, in its “wisdom,” have a “good” excuse not to pray.
Proverbs 26:16 says,
“The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason.”
Like anything worth doing, having a fruitful prayer life takes work.
Consider the following verses.
Matthew 6:6
“But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.”
1 Thessalonians 5:18
“In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
Luke 18:1
“And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint…”
It is work to maintain a prayer closet (Matthew 6:6) and pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:18). It takes effort to follow the command of our Saviour to pray always and not faint (Luke 18:1).
Jesus’ lesson on prayer shows us that prayer requires work and is not for the lazy.
Luke 11:5–10
“And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”
This friend Jesus speaks of came at midnight and received bread because he was persistent. The word importunityindicates that this man came with urgency and was not going to go away without bread. He put in the effort.
It takes work to ask, to seek, and to knock.
Jesus Christ put effort into His prayer during His earthly ministry.
Luke 5:16
“And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.”
Mark 1:35
“And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.”
Luke 6:12
“And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.”
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus labored and agonized in prayer.
Luke 22:39–46
“And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him. And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow, And said unto them, Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.”
A fruitful prayer life is not the work of a lazy man. It takes diligence, effort, and hard work.
There are two keys to overcoming the laziness of our flesh so that we might have a fruitful prayer life.
The first is fervency.
The word fervent is defined as hot, boiling, vehement, ardent, very warm, earnest, excited, animated, glowing—as fervent zeal, fervent piety.
We need to become passionate about prayer and see it as an absolute necessity in our lives.
The last half of James 5:16 tells us,
“…The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
In Genesis 32, Jacob wrestled with God all night in passionate, fervent prayer.
Genesis 32:24–28
“And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.”
Jacob was fervent. He knew he needed God’s blessing. He wrestled all night. He was not going to let go. He ignored the cry of his flesh to let go when his hip was put out of joint.
The need for God’s blessing was greater to Jacob than the excuses his flesh offered to stop.
When we become passionate about prayer and see that our need for God is greater than our excuses not to pray, we will overcome our laziness.
How often have we quit praying because we were tired or uncomfortable?
Our prayer life will be fruitful when we stop worrying about how tired or uncomfortable we are and focus on our need for God.
We see the need for fervency to overcome excuses again illustrated in Matthew 15.
Matthew 15:21–28
“Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.”
This woman of Canaan received an answer to prayer because of her fervency.
She had every excuse to quit asking.
Jesus ignored her at first. The disciples wanted her sent away. Jesus told her that He was only sent to the lost sheep of Israel, and He referred to her as a dog.
Yet she humbled herself, worshiped, and asked for the crumbs that fell from the Master’s table.
She was fervent.
She had a need and understood that Jesus was the only one who could meet that need.
How often have we given up in prayer because God was silent or we didn’t immediately receive the answer we wanted?
Where is our fervency?
Another key to overcoming laziness in prayer is to be specific when asking.
Jacob prayed specifically for God's blessing upon his meeting with Esau, and the Canaanite woman prayed for her daughter to be healed of a devil. Both of these specific prayers were answered.
Generic prayers are lazy prayers.
They don’t build faith or fervency. They are thrown up casually, and no specific answer is ever seen.
Nothing will build your prayer life like a particular answer to prayer.
Seeing answered prayer builds faith, intensifies fervency, and encourages us to continue to pray.
Consider the very specific prayer of Hannah in 1 Samuel 1, and read 1 Samuel 2 to see how her faith and fervency grew.
1 Samuel 1:11
“And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.”
1 Samuel 2:1–2
“And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the LORD, mine horn is exalted in the LORD: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation. There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.”
To have a fruitful prayer life, one cannot be lazy. One must put the work in.
Get fervent and passionate about prayer. Your need for God is greater than any excuse not to pray.
Be specific in your prayers.
Answers to prayer build faith and intensify fervency.
Never forget that prayer is worth the effort.
