Is Prayer a Duty? Or, Is it More?

In his own unique way, John Piper argues that prayer may be a duty we have as Christians, but its more:

Is it true…that intentional, regular, disciplined, earnest, Christ-dependent, God-glorifying, joyful prayer is a duty...? You can call it that. It’s a duty the way it’s the duty of a scuba diver to put on his air tank before he goes under water. It’s a duty the way that pilots have to listen to air traffic controllers. It’s a duty the way that soldiers in combat have to clean their rifles and load their guns. It’s a duty the way that hungry people have to eat food. It’s a duty that first these people have to drink water. It’s a duty the way a deaf man has to put in his hearing aid. It’s a duty the way a diabetic has to take insulin. It’s a duty the way that Pooh-bear looks for honey. It’s a duty the way that pirates look for gold.

I hate the devil and the way that he’s killing some of you is by persuading you that it is legalistic to be regular in your prayers as you are in your eating and sleeping and using the internet. Do you not see what a sucker he’s making out of you? He’s laughing up his sleeve at how easy it is to deceive Christians about the importance of prayer. God has given us means of grace. If we do not use them to our fullest advantage, then our complaints against him will not stick. If we don’t eat, we’ll starve. If we don’t drink, we’ll get dehydrated. If we don’t exercise a muscle, it atrophies. If we don’t breathe, we suffocate. And just as there are physical means of life, so there are spiritual means of grace, and prayer is one of them. You need it as much as you need to breathe. Is it your duty to breathe?”