Praying When You Don’t Want To

“Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” Mark 14:36

How do we pray when we don’t feel in any way holy? Nobody feels incredibly devout 24/7. Motivation is important – we can’t always ride off the back of a wave of intense spiritual emotion. Sometimes it’s clear and sunny outside, and you know you still have to fit in your morning time with God. Sometimes the last thing you want to do is listen to your depressed friend and quietly ask God to help them. C.S. Lewis said, “I must say my prayers today whether I feel devout or not; but that is only as I must learn my grammar if I am ever to read the poets.” Yes, poetry got Lewis’s taste buds tingling. Feel free to replace that with your own activity of choice. The point is that the ‘drudge’ of learning grammar changes you. Not just in patience. The experience takes you beyond a flat, normal, “just getting by” human life. You start to change inside, in a secret way. This is especially true with prayer. Even when it looks like practice, speaking words to an empty room, you will be opening your life to God. And God, because He is good, will come along and meet you. After all, someone cannot hear you if you are not talking with them. God wants us to talk to Him. He may be the only one listening to us today.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, help me spend time daily, and throughout the day, talking with You, as You care and listen to what I say. In Jesus’ Name, Amen