Prayer is an incredible privilege. Take a moment and think about the great blessing of having an audience with the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe – being able to tell Him your cares and troubles, asking Him to help your loved ones, personally communicating your admiration and thanksgiving to Him for all of His blessings. Why would a child of God neglect such a privilege?

The prophet Zechariah worked among the remnant of God’s people who returned from Babylonian Captivity. The Lord needed to remind them why their fathers had gone into captivity, lest they repeat the same mistake.

11. “But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing.
12. They made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from the Lord of hosts.
13. And just as He called and they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen," says the Lord of hosts;
14. “but I scattered them with a storm wind among all the nations whom they have not known. Thus the land is desolated behind them so that no one went back and forth, for they made the pleasant land desolate.”
(Zechariah 7:11-14, New American Standard Update)

This sounds like some people today. They have absolutely no use for God or His word until they get into trouble. Then, they run to Him for help like one runs for a fire extinguisher.

God wants to be our Father. He wants us to spend time listening to His word, meditating upon its truth, and making the needed application to our lives – every day. He also wants to hear from us. He wants to know our thoughts, our troubles, and our cares – every day.

Read again what God did to His sinful people: “‘And just as He called and they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen,’ says the Lord of hosts” (v. 13). It is a dangerous thing to take God’s grace for granted. We cannot turn a deaf ear to God’s warnings and then expect Him to be present to help us when we have ignored those warnings and gotten ourselves into trouble.

Do you have God in the center of your life, walking and talking with Him every day? Or do you have stored nearby like a fire extinguisher, ignoring Him until you need Him?