Mike Signorelli - 4 Reasons Why You Don't Pray
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Summary:
Pastor Mike shares the top four reasons why Christians struggle to pray: being offended at God for unanswered prayers, demonic distractions, the flesh’s resistance due to original sin, and simply not planning time for prayer. But the one that shocks most people is the last—he says many don’t pray because they genuinely don’t know how, and he fixes that by teaching the simple ACTS prayer model (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication). His big takeaway is that anyone can start praying effectively right away with this template, build a real relationship with God, and break through into consistent, powerful prayer.
Introduction: Top Four Reasons Why People Don’t Pray
In this video, I’m going to give you the top four reasons why people don’t pray. Hey, for fun, see if any of them apply to you. The last one is probably going to shock you. Let’s just jump right in. I don’t want to waste any more of your time.
Reason 1: Offense Toward God for Unanswered Prayer
Number one, maybe you’re mad at God for not answering a previous prayer. Perhaps you’ve been praying and praying, asking, pleading, and it never happened. So you are holding offense against God.
Come on, let’s get vulnerable if we’re going to break through any one of these four reasons why people don’t pray. Now, how do I solve it, Pastor Mike? Okay, here’s the answer. In Psalm 10:1, the psalmist is crying out to God, saying, «Hey, why are you standing far off? Lord, why are you hiding yourself in times of trouble?» What does this mean? It means that not all prayers have to be pretty.
If you’re holding back from praying to God because you have an offense because He hasn’t done what you wanted Him to do when you wanted Him to do it, it’s okay to build a relationship through vulnerability. «God, why does it feel like you’re so far away? Why does it feel like you’re ignoring me?» If you will ask Him questions through the Holy Spirit, you’ll be shocked to see that He’ll give you an answer. Come on, if this is helping you already, hit that thumbs up right now.
Reason 2: Demonic Distractions
Let’s jump into number two. Number two, you’re being distracted by demonic activity. I have to continually remind Christians that you are not alone in this world. We have angelic beings and demonic beings in the atmospheres of our lives, in our homes, and in our workplaces. You have to increase your awareness of them. As a matter of fact, the Bible says in James 4:7, «Submit yourself to God, then resist the devil, and he will flee from you.»
So if James says resist the devil and he’ll flee, it’s helping you understand that demonic distraction is real and it happens to every Christian. It’s so common that James 4:7 was directed towards all of us. So you’re not praying because there are demonic distractions. One of the biggest proofs you have is that you can scroll through your phone all night long; scroll, scroll, scroll, and you don’t feel tired at all. Then you begin to pray or read your Bible, and you immediately and instantly want to go to sleep. There may be demonic activity connected to your inability to pray.
As a matter of fact, I’ve actually heard someone say it like this before: demons will even give people supernatural abilities to do sinful things. You see in Mark chapter five a demonized man being able to break chains. There are supernatural physical abilities that demons enable. I’ve always found it strange how people can sin all night long, but if you suggested, «Let’s pray all night long, » they couldn’t do it. So maybe it’s demonic distraction. Man, is this helping anybody? Drop a comment right now and let me know how this is helping you, especially if you’re getting a revelation. All right, all right, you’re probably saying, «Pastor Mike, not everything’s a demon.» Okay, I agree.
Reason 3: The Flesh and Original Sin
Number three: original sin. Original sin happened when Adam fell in the garden, which was a perfect environment, but he had a human will. As a result, he, along with Eve, committed sin. All of us have a physical body, and we must learn to crucify the flesh. Your flesh is not going to want to pray. Your flesh is going to want to do the things that it desires. The flesh wants to procreate and have sexual activity. The flesh wants to eat. The flesh wants to be addicted to things like nicotine and alcohol. The flesh wants to escape through drug experiences. The flesh wants dopamine. The flesh wants serotonin.
You’re going to struggle with your body until you die and your spirit is released from your physical body. So don’t ever expect that your body is going to want to pray. You are going to have to crucify the flesh, beat it into submission. One of my favorite phrases that I use while I’m discipling you right now is «suffer well.» It’s going to hurt. It hurt Jesus when the crown of thorns was pressed into His mind. But on the other side of that suffering was freedom and peace for your mind. Sometimes you’re going to have to suffer through subjecting that flesh to the will of God. But on the other side of that suffering is great freedom.
Reason 4: Failing to Plan Prayer Time
I’m going to give you the next one. Okay, are you ready? Stick around to the end of this teaching because the last one’s probably going to shock you. Failing to plan is preparing to fail. Christians don’t pray because they don’t plan to pray. Ah, did I just blow your mind? Some of you are like, «That’s crazy. I have a planner where I write down my entire day. I think about my commute to work. I think about when I’m going to take a shower. I think about when I need to shave. I think about when I need to buy clothes. I think about when bills need to be paid, but I never plan to pray.»
So failing to plan is preparing to fail. You must plan your prayer. As a matter of fact, you can tap the link and watch the video about early morning prayer. I think you should plan to pray in the early morning. So go ahead and tap that link and watch that video. It’s going to help you so much.
The Shocking Reason: Not Knowing How to Pray
All right, here’s the last and final reason. Thanks for sticking around all the way till the end. Christians don’t know how to pray. They don’t pray because they don’t know how to pray. I’m going to give you a very simple acronym that’s going to give you a template for how to pray. Then you won’t have any excuse.
I talk to people from all around the world who say, «Pastor Mike, I would pray more. I just don’t know how to pray.» So use the ACTS method: ACTS. This is the ACTS method.
The ACTS Prayer Model: Adoration
A starts with adoration, C is for confession, T is for thanksgiving, and S is for supplication. Here’s how it starts with ACTS: A is for adoration. «God, I adore you. God, I worship you. I magnify you. I lift you up, God. I honor you today, Lord. Your beauty is unmatched.»
It’s adoration. You’re literally coming before the Lord and saying, «God, the focus is on you today. You’re so amazing; you’re so lovely.» See how the atmosphere even changes while I’m doing this?
The ACTS Prayer Model: Confession
Okay, now, C is confession. Confession is coming out of hiding. When Adam sinned, he hid. God knew where he was, but he was hiding. So don’t hide from God when you sin; that’s what most Christians do. «Well, I guess I can’t come before the Lord today. I messed up again.» No, it’s the opposite every day: confession.
This is the second one. You just say, «God, I fell back into this sin. I don’t know why I’m doing it. I don’t know why I drank the way I just drank. God, I don’t know why I went back to lust. Maybe there’s something broken in me. I’m confessing my sin, but I’m asking not just that you forgive me, but heal me from the root. Why do I keep going?» See how now you’re building a relationship with God? That’s confession.
The ACTS Prayer Model: Thanksgiving
Let’s talk about thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is an act of faith. Thank God for what He already did and thank God for what He’s about to do. So that’s how I do it: «God, I thank you for today. Thank you for waking me up. Thank you for giving me a job, even if I don’t like it. Thank you, God, for my family, even if they get on my nerves. Thank you, God, for my healing that’s on the way. Thank you, God.»
See how I’m thanking God for both the present and future? That’s thanksgiving.
The ACTS Prayer Model: Supplication
The last one, ACTS, is supplication. I want to explain supplication because it’s so powerful. Supplication means earnestness. It means going back repeatedly. Supplication is like saying, «God, you’re not getting rid of me. I absolutely believe that you will do the thing you said you were going to do. I’m reminding you of your promises. I have this chronic illness, but I am not this chronic illness; that’s not my identity. I haven’t seen the healing yet, but through supplication, through earnest, repeated prayer, just like Hannah, the Bible gives an account that this woman Hannah went to the temple, and she was so adamant about her prayers that Eli, who was over the temple, said it looked like she was drunk. That’s supplication.
She was saying, „God, I can’t have a child. I haven’t been able to conceive; something in me is broken. I need a supernatural healing. I’m going to go before you over and over and over and over again until you give me what you promised. You promised that you were a healer.“ That’s supplication, and guess what? She conceived and eventually had Samuel, who became one of the greatest prophets over the nation of Israel. So, ACTS.
I believe that if you end with supplication saying, „God, I’m getting ready to end this prayer, but you’ll hear from me again. I’ll be back in this place tomorrow. I’m not giving up; I still believe, ” then you will access the supernatural, breakthrough, healing, and restoration.
Closing Prayer and Call to Action
Come on, let’s just pray right now. If this helped you, I need to know in the comments. What did you learn? How did this help you? If you haven’t subscribed, hit that subscribe button right now so that you can learn more, and let’s all pray.
Heavenly Father, I just release an impartation of diligence and faithfulness that they would begin to pray like never before, that they would wake up early and they would pray, that they would pray in the midday like Daniel and pray at night, God. I thank you that they will become a people of prayer and, through prayer, receive revelation, wisdom, knowledge, and God, you will show them the supernatural realm; you will speak to them prophetically in Jesus' mighty name. And everybody said in the chat, in the comment section, „Amen, Amen, Amen.“