In E.M. Bounds Complete Works on Prayer he says in a chapter titled “Hindrances to Prayer,” “Prayer in the Old Testament is called wrestling. Conflict and skill, strenuous, exhaustive effort are all involved. In the New Testament we have the terms striving, laboring, fervently, fervent, effectual, agony, all indicating intense effort put forth, difficulties overcome.”
How can we enjoy prayer when it is such a struggle? If you have ever prayed you have experienced some of these things that Bounds mentions. I know I have. Prayer does not come naturally to us. We struggle with it. It is wrestling. It is laborious. However, we can’t give up. We’ve got to be persistent in our prayers if we want to experience the power of God working through our prayers. Matthew 7:7-8 says, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you fill find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” In these verses Jesus is calling us to persistent prayer, because when we persist, wrestle, and labor in prayer we will see the hand of God at work.
I believe that it’s through persistence that we learn to enjoy prayer. As we persist, we see God at work, and it encourages us to persist even more in our prayers. Ultimately, even in those times we do not enjoy our prayer lives, our knowledge of what Christ has done for us should bring rejuvenation to even the driest seasons of prayer. Christ suffered the wrath of God in our place so that we might be reconciled to the Father so that we might be able to come before the presence of the God of all creation any time we desire. You have complete access to the Father because of what Christ has done for you. Hebrews 4:14-16 says, “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
