God: "I looked for someone to take a stand for me, and stand in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30)
Heaven, as the eternal home of the divine Man and of all the redeemed members of the human race, must necessarily be thoroughly human in its structure, conditions, and activities. Its joys and its occupations must all be rational, moral, emotional, voluntary, and active. There must be the exercise of all faculties, the gratification of all tastes, the development of all talent capacities, the realization of all ideals. The reason, the intellectual curiosity, the imagination, the aesthetic instincts, the holy affections, the social affinities, the inexhaustible resources of strength and power native to the human soul, must all find in heaven exercise and satisfaction.
I am convinced that prayerlessness:
1. Is a sin against God (1 Sam. 12:23).
2. Is direct disobedience to the command of Christ (“watch and pray,” Mt. 26:41).
3. Is direct disobedience to the Word of God (“pray without ceasing,” 1 Thes. 5:17).
4. Makes me vulnerable to temptation (“watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation,” Mt. 26:41).
5. Expresses independence – no need for God.
6. Gives place to the Enemy and makes me vulnerable to his schemes (Eph. 6:10-20; Dan. 10).
7. Results in powerlessness.
8. Limits (and defines) my relationship with God.
9. Hinders me from knowing His will, His priorities, His direction.
10. Forces me to operate in the realm of the natural (what I can do) versus the supernatural (what He can do).
11. Leaves me weak, harried, and hassled.
12. Is rooted in pride, self-sufficiency, laziness, and lack of discipline.
13. Reveals a lack of real burden and compassion for others.
