I find praying such a battle.  
It’s so easy to not pray, feel guilty about not praying, and then not pray some more!  I think my biggest problem, however, is that I forget who I’m praying to (and with), and what it’s for.

I discovered this quote from a book called ‘Connected – Living in the light of the Trinity’ by Sam Allberry and it’s brilliant!  
'He (God the Father) is not the unknowable 'other', still less just a finger wagging authority figure, but our Father, 'By him we cry, Abba, Father.'’ The Spirit himself testifies with our Spirit that we are God's children' (Romans 8:15,16).

Two things are mentioned here
* The Spirit moves us to call out to God as our Father.
* The Spirit bears witness to us that we are God's children.

I suspect this is one activity, not two. As we call God Father, the Spirit testifies to our inner being that we are indeed God's children. The act of praying reminds us that we are on praying terms with God our Father.

If this is right, then prayer itself is a means of assurance. As we avail ourselves of the privilege of addressing God as Father, we are becoming more deeply conscious of the utter appropriateness of doing so as his adopted children. 
Prayer is essentially evangelical: as we pray we are re-enacting the gospel to ourselves.'

(page 141)

I love that final paragraph!  It’s such an encouragement.  What a great motivation to pray!   

Jez Lowries

Why don’t we pray?  There’s a question to induce guilt in most Christians!  If you’re anything like me, you are plagued by a constant, nagging sense of failure in the praying department, and although you want to pray more, you never quite seem to manage it.

Just to make things worse, here’s a paraphrase from Calvin’s Institutes:

Not bothering to come to God (who is good and kind, and is delighted when we come to him) to ask him for help and bring our needs to him, is crazy!  It’s like knowing that there is a treasure chest buried in your garden and not bothering to dig it up!

So prayer is something to treasure and enjoy…really?

If we think of it as an activity or routine, it’s not that appealing, but if we lift our focus from the activity to the one who we are praying to, then it becomes much more exciting!

‘Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!’ (Matthew 7:9-11)

Because Jesus died and rose for us, we are God’s children!  He loves us, and loves to give good things to us.  He wants us to come and speak to him because in speaking to him we exercise our dependence on him, and we learn what a generous, trustworthy God he is.

Prayer is not an activity to be done; it’s an expression of our faith and dependence in our Heavenly Father.  It’s how we relate to God.
Jez Lowries