I think it is fair to say that most of us don’t pray because we see it as obligation instead of an opportunity. And don’t worry, this blog is not about making you feel guilty. I count myself into the audience as well. But why do we see prayer as an obligation?
I think one answer to this is that we are subtly, yet ultimately, (and maybe unknowingly) holding to a works-based relationship with God. If we are praying out of obligation, then that action alone says that we are praying so that we can be ‘spiritually right’ with God and ourselves. But the reality is, we have already been set ‘spiritually right’ by Jesus in the Gospel. We are right before God. Do our prayerful deeds out of compulsion warrant any more of His favor? Certainly not! God does not want our obligations, or our compulsive actions — He wants our genuineness; our real heart! He set us right so that we could enjoy a real, noncompulsive, in-awe, and thankful communication with Him — one that is exceptionally better than our closest of friends. And essentially, a recognition of that opportune reality stems out of a love for Him that comes from what He has accomplished for us. Indeed, “He loved us first” and gave Himself for us (1 Jn. 4). We don’t gain an appreciation for prayer until we see it as gift bought by his blood.
