Is Social Media Taking Over Our Lives?

Prayer is an interesting subject because whether or not we like to admit it, praying does not come naturally for most of us including myself. Last week during the APJ summer camp one girl made a statement during our lunch break, "I'm always looking to the next event or the next Christian camp to give me a spiritual high". Her comment caused me to think about the fact that prayer really is a lost art in our generation.

Let's explore some of the reasons why this is happening:

• The United States spent 121 billion minutes on SOCIAL MEDIA sites in July 2012 alone. That's 388 minutes — or 6-1/2 hours — per person (if every person in the U.S. used social media). All together, that's 230,060 years 
• The average American 8-18 years old play VIDEO GAMES for 13.2 hours per week
• On average teens spend about 20 hours a week watching TELEVISION
• Only 40% of Christian teens read their Bible apart from church services
• 80% of youth are leaving the church by the time they are in college
• The average time a Christian spends in prayer is 4-7 minutes a day

Do We Treat Prayer Like a Google Search Engine?

Sometimes whether we realize it our not we treat prayer like a Google search engine. We use it when we need something or we are looking for answers. We are impatient to have the results pop up in a millisecond or less.
If the average person is only praying 7 minutes a day. That means you are praying one minute per meal and two minutes when you wake up and go to bed. Think about that for a moment! The sobering truth is this: "Our Spiritual lives are only as strong as our prayer life".

If prayer is what changes our lives and what changes the world and the statistics are fairly accurate do you realize that we are loosing the battle for the Kingdom of God? You and I are called to be warriors in the arena of prayer. It is our privileged calling to bow our knees to the Father and change this world for the sake of Jesus Christ. As children of the King of kings and Lord of lords, God doesn't suggested to us that we need to pray but commands us to pray. Why? Because it is vital to our survival as followers of Christ! "And now about prayer. WHEN you pray..." -Matthew 6:5

God doesn't say, "if you pray" but "when you pray". In Matthew 6:5, Jesus stated to His disciples the need for prayer by sharing three crucial elements to coming into the presence of God. When you pray...

1. Go away by yourself
2. Shut the door behind you
3. Pray to your Heavenly Father in secret 

Sometimes we can better understand something by noting what it doesn't say. Jesus didn't say "When you pray go away by yourself and take your phone with you so you can tweet prayer quotes and Bible verses". He didn't say "go away by yourself and your cell phone so your can answer all your notifications". He didn't say "go away to a room full of people and pray together" (although this is a good thing to do). What Jesus said to his disciples is this: "When you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you and pray to your Heavenly Father in secret".

Have you been to your secret place of prayer today? Are you going there daily? Alone? Without the distractions of life pulling on you? Don't let social media train your heart and mind to rush through your time alone with God and steal your time in prayer!