Are you one of those who feels like praying all the time? Or, instead, do you only pray when you feel like it? Do you ever pray when you just don’t feel like praying?
Says Spurgeon: If you do not pray except when you feel like praying, you will not pray much, nor pray when you most need it. My brethren, when you do not feel like praying, you ought to pray all the more, and go to the Lord to help you to pray.
We do many things because we feel like it, like having an ice cream cone, going for a walk in the park, or watching a game on TV.
We also don’t do things when we don’t feel like it, such as mowing the lawn, paying bills, calling a friend, or yes—praying.
It is a very common human trait to do things we like and avoid things we don’t. We move toward pleasure and away from pain. And such is prayer for many, we avoid it until we cannot.
But listen to Jesus, who tells us to take heed (to pay close attention to something) that we are to watch and to pray - which includes even when we don’t feel like it.
Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. Mark 13:33
This sounds like work, doesn’t it? And like work, praying takes effort, labor, struggle, time, focus, energy. Certainly it can, for Epaphras was said to be always laboring in prayers. This is perhaps why it is so avoided by too many today.
To pray without ceasing isn’t so much referring to a length of time praying, but a frequency and a consistency of our praying. How often is our praying? It is only daily over the evening meal? Or only in the morning before setting out for the day? It is even that often? Do you primarily pray when facing a certain difficult person or task?
Or do you pray three times daily, like Daniel, who was committed to praying even when it was unlawful by the kings decree?
We must get rid of the icicles that hang about our lips. We must ask the Lord to thaw the ice-caves of our soul and to make our hearts like a furnace of fire heated seven times hotter.
C.H. Spurgeon
Years ago, my co-worker would say, “Well there’s nothing to do but do.” And so we picked up our tools and went back at it, not because we felt like it, but because there was nothing else but keep at it until the job was finished.
Often, when we tackle a task — even grudgingly, isn’t the sense of satisfaction upon completion all the sweeter? When the lawn or laundry is done, and there is a brief respite in the cool shade, does not the sense of the accomplishment seem even larger?
It is the same with our praying. The hardest part is the beginning of the thing, but the process will bring a sweet peace, a hope, and an awareness of the Lord’s love that we end with a knowing his promises are Yes and Amen.
Remember: your lack of feeling like praying while you’re in prayer is perfectly normal. Our faith in God’s promises is built, not on emotion, but on trust. The best time to pray is right now. There is no better time for praying than this very moment.
So let me ask you:
What are we waiting for?
Photo by Vladislav Klapin on Unsplash
