In his booklet A Call to Prayer, John Charles (J.C.) Ryle (1816-1900) begins with these three words, “Do You Pray?” and then makes statements designed to make you think deeply about your own prayer life:

I ask whether you pray because neglect of prayer is one of the greatest causes of backsliding. Bibles read without prayer; sermons heard without prayer; marriages contracted without prayer; journeys undertaken without prayer; residences chosen without prayer; friendships formed without prayer; the daily act of prayer itself hurried over, or gone through without heart: these are the kind of downward steps by which many a Christian descends to a condition of spiritual palsy, or reaches the point where God allows them to have a tremendous fall.

Ryle’s words cause me to ask myself — and you — “Do you pray?”  Let’s not neglect this God-given discipline; the discipline of prayer.