Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life.

In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Jeff Parrott. Dependency is the heartbeat of prayer.

That's what Paul Miller writes in his book, A Praying Life, Dependency is the heartbeat of prayer.

Just think about that for a moment. Without dependency, without a sense of our need for God's

presence and power and love, our prayers become as lifeless as a body without a heartbeat.

Miller's emphasis on dependency cuts against the current of our world today

and the sinful movement of my own heart, of the human heart.

One of the greatest commodities of our day is that of independence, financial independence, vocational independence,

romantic independence. From that perspective, dependence is a liability, and independence is a luxury.

But according to Paul Miller, the luxury appeal of independence turns out to be a hidden

liability that steals a life of prayer.

He goes on to say this in his book,

If you are not praying, then you are quietly confident that time, money, and talent are all

you need in life.

You'll always be a little too tired, a little too busy.

But if like Jesus, you can realize that you can't do life on your own, then no matter how busy,

no matter how tired you are, you will find time to pray. Ouch, that hurts for me to think about that in my own life.

But what if Paul Miller is right?

What if he's on to something here?

What if the biggest barrier to a life of prayer isn't our access to time or energy,

but it's our own sense of self-confidence?

The self-confidence that we have that amputates our awareness of needing God in the first place.

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