There's not a simple answer to that question. There can be numerous reasons why prayer has become so routine. However, one major reason is that many believers have lost sight of the true meaning of prayer. Prayer isn't trying to get something from God. The purpose of prayer is to get to know God. It's the communion of two hearts - the heart of God and the heart of man. Too often, we're more interested in the hand of God than we are the heart of God. The Bible regularly speaks of prayer as "seeking God's face." Many of us are more interested in a hand stretched out to us than we are a heart given for us.

The Bible says, "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures" (James 4:3 NIV). Our motive in prayer is paramount to successful Christian praying. God looks upon the motives of our hearts. He sees what no one else can see. He sees the deep intents of our hearts. If our motivation is selfish gain, then our times with Him will be spiritually weak. There will be very little joy and the lack of His presence and power.

On the other hand, when we pray with our focus on Him, we will then know joy unspeakable. When we seek His face rather than His hand, we will rediscover the joy of intimacy with Christ. We will have communion with Him in a way that was previously unknown to us.

I'll never forget the first time that I went to Uganda to speak. I was introduced to the people by Peter Kasarivu, director of African Renewal Ministries. Peter said something very interesting in his introduction. "Brother Sammy," he said, "we have heard your voice by audio tape. But today is a great joy for us because we can see you face to face."

What Peter was basically saying was this. "We've known you at a distance. We've heard your voice and you messages. But today, we're entering into a new phase of our relationship with you. We're able to share our hearts with you and hear what's on your heart. We can deepen our relationship."

That's exactly what God desires from us - that we seek His face. He wants to have more than a superficial relationship with us. He wants to share His heart with us and that we share our hearts with Him. That should be the supreme motivation in prayer. When it is, some incredible things begin to take place.

There's a new found joy that invades our prayer lives when our sole motivation is to know Him. We begin to pray with a deep intimate knowledge that He is present. And ultimately, He does more for us than we could ever ask or think. Seasons of prayer becomes the most wonderful parts of our day. So, next time you spend time in prayer, make sure that your motivation is to get to know Him. Seek His face, and you may be surprised at what happens.