“Oh, how precious is time, and how it pains me to see it slide away, while I do so little to any good purpose.” 

David Brainerd.

Recently, I visited the local mosque. As I entered, I shook hands with some of the Muslims who were there, and we made our way toward the prayer area. The room was long and narrow, with a thick carpet covering the floor and a sound system at the front, where the Imam sits. I chose to sit at the back, near a shelf filled with books and some seating reserved for visitors.

A friend of mine has built relationships with the Imam and others in the community, fostering meaningful conversations about faith. The purpose of these discussions is to share the Christian message while also learning about their beliefs. From our perspective, the hope is that these conversations may lead someone to a true understanding of the gospel.

“How can those who serve a false god display such unwavering commitment, while those who serve the true and living God often struggle in their devotion?”

As we sat there, I noticed that conversations were rare. Most people were either sitting quietly in meditation or bowing and kneeling in prayer. This stirred a sense of conviction and embarrassment within me. I began reflecting on my own prayer life and realized how much I lacked that posture of reverence and daily commitment. The embarrassment deepened when I considered that, as believers in Christ, we have the privilege of knowing the true and living God and direct access to Him—yet I often fail to approach Him with the same devotion. How can those who serve a false god display such unwavering commitment, while those who serve the true and living God often struggle in their devotion? Many of us, myself included, are hesitant to admit that we simply don’t prioritize what matters most. Though we may not say it outright, our actions reveal that we believe we don’t have the time.

Ephrem the Syrian prayed, “O Lord, if my heart is distracted, bring it to You, for I am unable to overcome its distractions by myself.” Perhaps the real issue lies in our failure to repent for the time we claim we don’t have—a claim that is often untrue. According to a study by Grace and Prayers: Christian Prayer Frequency Statistics, most Christians spend less than one minute in prayer at a time. In contrast, Muslims perform five daily prayers, each lasting 5–10 minutes, adding up to a total of 25–50 minutes of prayer each day.

“Prayer should be an affectionate pouring out of the heart and soul to God.”

I don’t believe time is the issue; rather, it reflects our misplaced priorities. Time is often blamed, but the true obstacle to prayer is our sinful attitude toward the greatest privilege we have been given: access to the true and living God. We don’t make time for prayer because we convince ourselves that we don’t have it, which ultimately reveals that we view other things as more deserving of our time. 

I can relate to those moments when I’ve considered setting aside a significant amount of time for prayer, only to feel overwhelmed by a reluctance to actually commit to it. In those moments, we should pause, reflect, and remind ourselves of the true significance of prayer.

In A Discourse Touching Prayer, John Bunyan posed the question, “What is prayer?” He defined it as “a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the heart or soul to God, through Christ, in the strength and assistance of the Holy Spirit, for such things as God hath promised, or according to the Word, for the good of the church, with submission, in faith, to the will of God.” Bunyan was right—prayer should be an affectionate pouring out of the heart and soul to God. Yet, we often choose to pour our hearts into other things. Whether it’s scrolling on our phones, chatting with others, or keeping ourselves busy, we find countless distractions more appealing than spending time in prayer with God. Meanwhile, people of other religions, worshiping false gods, often dedicate more time to their practices than we do to communing with the true and living God.

Time itself is not the issue. The issue lies in how we choose to use our time. And maybe that is exactly the problem. “Our time.” In Prophetic Untimeliness: A Challenge to the Idol of Relevance, Os Guinness explains that the invention of the clock made time more exact, helping people organize their lives. But it also made society overly focused on schedules and being efficient. The irony is that while the clock may have made us more efficient, it has left the church deficient in prayer. Our world has become so packed with activity that every minute feels crammed, leaving us exhausted, busy, and drained—too tired or distracted to prioritize prayer. This hit me as I watched Muslims dedicate an hour at the mosque solely to prayer—not for chatting or other activities, but entirely and only for prayer.

“God is our Father, and we should desire to talk to Him, to share our needs, and to seek His face.”

What should a Christian do? We need to slow down and approach prayer as Bunyan described it: with sincerity, thoughtfulness, and affection, pouring out our hearts and souls to God. We should ask the Holy Spirit for the strength and focus to cultivate a true desire for prayer. Perhaps the most meaningful prayer we can offer is asking God for His help to pray.

When we pray, we should reflect on the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6. Jesus cautioned against practicing our righteousness in front of others just to gain their approval. He specifically warned against being like the hypocrites who love to stand and pray in synagogues and on street corners so they can be seen and admired by others.

He said in Matthew 6:9-13,

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. (ESV)

From the very beginning of the prayer, I believe it reveals why many of us struggle with prayer—we don’t truly see God as our Father. Prayer is meant to flow from a relationship. God is our Father, and we should desire to talk to Him, to share our needs, and to seek His face. We should approach Him in faith, trusting that He can carry our burdens and knowing that He cares for us.

The issue isn’t about having enough time; it’s about prioritizing the most important relationship we have. A lack of prayer reflects a lack of faith and misplaced priorities. We may need to reexamine our hearts and let go of anything that hinders us from daily communion with Him. It’s not about how long we pray—Muslims dedicate time to prayer regularly—but about making our time with God meaningful, worshipful, and devotional. Whether it’s minutes or hours, our hearts must be fully engaged, and our faith must be genuine. We should pray for a deep desire to pray, trusting that God will answer this request.