Active or Passive- Prayer

Romans 12:11-12 AMPC

¹¹ Never lag in zeal and in earnest endeavor; be aglow and burning with the Spirit, serving the Lord. ¹² Rejoice and exult in hope; be steadfast and patient in suffering and tribulation; be constant in prayer.

Word for the Journey

In a previous blog, I shared that in our walk with the Lord, we can be either active or passive. To be active is to know God, follow Christ, and honor Him. We are dedicated to Him when we are active in our pursuit of Christ and all things given and promised to us by the Lord in the Word. We abide, we seek after Him, we are devoted to Him above all else- not just in works, but in heart posture. In that earlier post, I also explained Active and Passive Faith and discussed the difference between walking with the Lord in faith. If you haven’t read it yet, I encourage you to do so. Below is the link.

https://promisesforthejourney.com/2026/02/13/active-or-passive/

This dynamic between the active and passive can also be present in prayer.

Passive Prayer

Passive prayer shows up in the small, familiar moments: praying over a meal because it’s what we’ve always done, repeating words without thinking, or treating prayer as a formality. The action is there, but the heart is distant. Our mouths pray, but our minds wander, and our spirits remain untouched. When prayer happens, it’s because we’re supposed to or told to. This is passive prayer.

Over time, this kind of prayer can dull our sense of His presence, making conversation with Him feel more like a ritual to complete than a relationship to enter into. Instead of drawing us closer, it leaves us unchanged—going through the motions while our souls stay on the sidelines.

Building on the example given:

You sit down at dinner with your family and bow your head to pray. You say the same few lines you’ve said for years: “God, thank you for this food, and bless the hands that prepared it, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.”

Your voice is calm, your timing is right, but your mind is already on the emails you need to answer, the show you want to watch, or the plans you have for tomorrow. You don’t pause to consider what you’re actually saying or who you’re saying it to. The prayer ends, everyone starts eating, and nothing inside of you is different from what it was 30 seconds before—that’s passive prayer.

Active Prayer

Active prayer is different. It is intentional, focused, and engaged. Active prayer is when you come before God fully present—aware of who He is, honest about where you are, and expecting Him to move. It is turning your attention away from distractions and fixing your heart on Him. Active prayer has a desire to go before the throne of God and be in His presence. It is when we fully engage in the spirit talking to Him, knowing that as we speak, He listens. He is our good Father. He wants to speak to us and He wants us to speak to Him. 

Spiritually, it’s like moving from the outer court, to the inner court, and finally into the Holy of Holies. In the outer court, everything is visible and busy. In the inner court, things grow quieter and more reverent. In the Holy of Holies, there is deep intimacy and the nearness of God’s presence. Active prayer is the journey from casual conversation to holy encounter. With Active prayer, entering the Holy of Holies can happen.

Active prayer requires:

• Dedication – choosing to pray even when you don’t feel like it.

• Intentionality – deciding what you’re praying about and who you’re praying to.

• Focus – gently bringing your heart and mind back to God when they drift.

When our flesh is strong and our spirit is weak, we will always struggle to be active in prayer. We may feel too tired, too distracted, or too busy. Our prayers become short, shallow, and routine, and our faith remains inactive. We must be diligent in our pursuit of Christ to combat these times that can arise. 

As we learn to crucify the flesh—through repentance, obedience, and spiritual disciplines like fasting and worship—and as we nourish our spirit with God’s Word and His presence, something shifts. Prayer stops being a task and becomes a place of encounter. Our faith moves from theory to experience. We don’t just say we believe; we pray like we believe.

Active prayer is not about using fancy words or praying long prayers. It is about a surrendered heart, intentional pursuit, and consistent engagement with God. This is where faith is stirred, lives are changed, and intimacy with Christ grows. 

How do we move from passive to active prayer?

I heard a minister say, “If you can think, you can pray!” 

Behave Like a Christian

Ultimately, to be passive in any area of our walk- prayer, faith, pursuit of Him… it all boils down to lack of zeal and fear of the Lord. Passivity is subtle; it often looks like “I’m just tired,” or “I’ll get to it later,” but underneath is a heart that has grown dull to His worth and casual about His presence. Passivity is the quiet agreement that today is not the day to seek Him with all our hearts. It’s the compromise that says a distracted mind and a divided life are acceptable before a holy God. It shows up when we treat prayer as optional, obedience as negotiable, and intimacy with Him as something we visit occasionally instead of the place we live.

As I mentioned previously, be diligent in our pursuit of Christ. Do the fundamental processes that help us be intentional and zealous in our walk with the Lord. When we truly fear the Lord, we cannot stay indifferent. The fear of the Lord awakens urgency, conviction, and a holy resolve to respond to Him quickly. Zeal is the natural overflow of seeing who He is—His beauty, His majesty, His mercy. 

So the answer to passivity is not to try harder in our own strength; it is to return. To repent for where we have grown numb, to ask Him to restore the fear of the Lord in our hearts, and to fix our gaze on Jesus again. As we do, the Holy Spirit can awaken what has grown cold. Desire awakens, obedience becomes joy, and our walk is no longer marked by passivity, but by a wholehearted, steady pursuit of Him. Fasting helps bring our flesh under subjection, and allows our spirit man to be stronger. The desire to seek Him will not come from the flesh.

Active Faith and Active Prayer are not just ideas; they are verbs—actions that must be lived out. In the NKJV, the title of the passage below is “Behave Like a Christian.” I pray this will be our guide…

Encouragement for the Journey

Romans 12:9-21 NKJV

⁹ Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; ¹¹ not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; ¹² rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; ¹³ distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. ¹⁷ Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. ¹⁸ If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. ¹⁹ Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says theLord. ²⁰ Therefore, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” ²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.