The Privilege of Prayer (Juan R. Sanchez Jr.)

In the new issue of Credo Magazine, “How Then Shall We Pray? The Necessity of Prayer for the Christian Life,” Juan R. Sanchez Jr. contributed a feature article called, “The Privilege of Prayer.” Juan R. Sanchez, Jr. is Senior Pastor of High Pointe Baptist Church, Austin, Texas. He is also a council member for The Gospel Coalition.

Here is the start of his article:

Let’s face it, prayer is not easy. In fact, if we are honest, sometimes it feels obligatory; oftentimes we’re distracted; and in some cases it may even seem boring. If you were raised in a Christian home and attended church regularly you’ve likely heard lots of people pray. Hopefully they modeled prayer well, but then again, perhaps not. It’s likely you heard lofty prayers and assumed you would never be able to pray like that, so you struggle even to pray. Consequently, you will never pray publicly because you just can’t – at least not like those “great prayer warriors” at church. Or maybe you’ve been in situations where prayer is trivialized, where people seem to be praying for the silliest of things. It may even be the case that you grew up in a prayerless home or church, so prayer has never been modeled for you.

If you are a new Christian you enter into a Christian subculture where people have their own language and traditions, and you have likely wondered, “Why do people talk to God like that?” Never mind the fact that if you came to faith in Christ from another religious tradition, you have to work through some of your own problematic prayer practices.

Then there is the reality of life. As Christians, when our circumstances overwhelm us, we intuitively cry out to God for help. But if we’ve been prayerless, we feel guilty because it seems we only go to God when we need something or when our world is falling apart. As I said, prayer is not easy, is it?

Problematic Prayer: Hypocrisy and Paganism

Jesus acknowledges the difficulty of prayer and warns against two wrong approaches. To those who love to pray publicly in order to impress others, Jesus warns that the only reward you will receive is the praises of men, for hypocrites “will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 6:1, 5-6). To those who simply heap up countless words and phrases over and over again, thinking that the more words they offer the more obligated God is to hear and answer, Jesus warns, “do not be like [the pagans], for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matt. 6:7-8). How then are we to pray?

Read the rest of this article today in the new issue of Credo Magazine!

To view the Magazine as a PDF

We live in a world that screams to get our attention. From the moment you wake up to the second you hit your pillow at night, something or someone wants your time. Hosts of people are waiting for you to friend them on Facebook. The world awaits your next tweet and blog post. Your phone is buzzing because you have another email that needs your response. When you go home and turn on your TV there are innumerable “must see” shows, as well as breaking news you cannot afford to miss.  Let’s face it, the world we live in is quite loud, and it never sleeps.

In the midst of all this noise, where does extended time in prayer fit in? Or does it? Prayer seems to run contrary to the busyness of life in the twenty-first century. If you don’t believe me, ask yourself this question, “When was the last time I spent more than 15 minutes in uninterrupted prayer with the Lord?” Church history shows that for Christians who came before us, private and corporate prayer was essential, assumed to be a necessary staple for the Christian and the church. After all, it is the God-given means by which we have fellowship and communion with God himself.  Should we neglect prayer we actually neglect God, and the consequences are spiritually fatal. But should we set aside time to pray to God, we will benefit greatly, finding God to be a refuge and a shield in the midst of a chaotic, consuming, and demanding world.

In this issue of Credo Magazine we will focus on prayer, looking at how Christians in ages past have understood the importance of prayer, as well as Scripture’s own emphasis on the necessity of prayer. Not only will we recognize the importance of prayer, but in this issue we will look at how we pray as well. My guess is that most Christians have never even thought about how they should pray. Well here is a great opportunity to do so!

Contributors include: Gerald Bray, Aimee Byrd, Juan R. Sanchez, Peter Beck, Sandy Willson, Tim Keller, Sam Storms, Phil Johnson, Donald Whitney, Nancy Guthrie, among many others.