I'm tired of praying.
There I said it.
I hate to admit that but I’m just being real. Sometimes prayers seem to go nowhere. I'm tired of praying and not seeing anything change.
I have always said that it would be a whole lot easier if prayer was more of a tangible dialogue. Prayer requires faith. It also requires a LOT of effort. There are times - like now - that I am tired of making that effort without seeing any results.
A prayer life is difficult to keep consistent.
For me, I can go a long stretch when I feel good about my prayer life but then there are times when it’s just not sparking my joy. I don’t like it when I pray and nothing happens. I’m sure we all feel that way.
I’m not saying that I want everything to go my way and that I get everything that I pray for but there are times that it seems like nothing is getting done and sometimes they even get worse and go in the opposite direction of what I am praying for.
I know that God works in mysterious ways and He answers prayers the way He wants to answer them but knowing that doesn’t help. I have better momentum when I see results. Why pray if you don’t see results?
It’s hard.
I have been around church all of my life and I have seen the many ways how people pray. I have known many who pray very loud as if God is deaf as if the volume level of their prayer matters.
I have known many who pray in tongues. I am not criticizing praying in tongues but I've never been able to understand how this is effective either. Is it more effective than praying in English? I haven't seen it or experienced it. Praying in tongues doesn't make someone more spiritual or increase one's chances in getting prayers answered.
When I was younger I would beg and plead with God to answer my prayers and even make deals with God to answer them. God doesn't make deals to answer our prayers unless it is His will to do so.
I have become very quiet and meditative now. God knows my needs and I will ask but I also prefer to sit quietly and try to listen. Not with my physical ear but listen in my spirit. This is not easy to do. I will admit that I don’t think I am very good at it. I wonder sometimes if God even hears my prayers. I don’t think I’m spiritual enough.
When we feel like our prayers aren’t getting anything done, it’s important to remember that this is a common experience. God is always listening. We have to press through it and continuing to pray. We have to trust that God is working even if we don’t see it.
Something I just came across on this subject is that we should consider changing things up with the way we are praying. Some suggest journaling - writing down our prayers. Others say to change HOW we pray. Sometimes we get stuck in the way we are praying.
One thing that I was reminded while writing this blog is that prayer is not about getting results but communication with God. No, He doesn’t answer in a way that we can hear with our physical ears but He communicates in other ways but only if we commit the time to spend with Him. In our fast paced world we want things immediately without spending much time.
God may not decide to answer our prayers like we want Him to, but He will answer them. The good thing about praying is knowing we are doing everything we can do. We need to let that give us comfort and continue to pray.
There I said it.
I hate to admit that but I’m just being real. Sometimes prayers seem to go nowhere. I'm tired of praying and not seeing anything change.
I have always said that it would be a whole lot easier if prayer was more of a tangible dialogue. Prayer requires faith. It also requires a LOT of effort. There are times - like now - that I am tired of making that effort without seeing any results.
A prayer life is difficult to keep consistent.
For me, I can go a long stretch when I feel good about my prayer life but then there are times when it’s just not sparking my joy. I don’t like it when I pray and nothing happens. I’m sure we all feel that way.
I’m not saying that I want everything to go my way and that I get everything that I pray for but there are times that it seems like nothing is getting done and sometimes they even get worse and go in the opposite direction of what I am praying for.
I know that God works in mysterious ways and He answers prayers the way He wants to answer them but knowing that doesn’t help. I have better momentum when I see results. Why pray if you don’t see results?
It’s hard.
I have been around church all of my life and I have seen the many ways how people pray. I have known many who pray very loud as if God is deaf as if the volume level of their prayer matters.
I have known many who pray in tongues. I am not criticizing praying in tongues but I've never been able to understand how this is effective either. Is it more effective than praying in English? I haven't seen it or experienced it. Praying in tongues doesn't make someone more spiritual or increase one's chances in getting prayers answered.
When I was younger I would beg and plead with God to answer my prayers and even make deals with God to answer them. God doesn't make deals to answer our prayers unless it is His will to do so.
I have become very quiet and meditative now. God knows my needs and I will ask but I also prefer to sit quietly and try to listen. Not with my physical ear but listen in my spirit. This is not easy to do. I will admit that I don’t think I am very good at it. I wonder sometimes if God even hears my prayers. I don’t think I’m spiritual enough.
When we feel like our prayers aren’t getting anything done, it’s important to remember that this is a common experience. God is always listening. We have to press through it and continuing to pray. We have to trust that God is working even if we don’t see it.
Something I just came across on this subject is that we should consider changing things up with the way we are praying. Some suggest journaling - writing down our prayers. Others say to change HOW we pray. Sometimes we get stuck in the way we are praying.
One thing that I was reminded while writing this blog is that prayer is not about getting results but communication with God. No, He doesn’t answer in a way that we can hear with our physical ears but He communicates in other ways but only if we commit the time to spend with Him. In our fast paced world we want things immediately without spending much time.
God may not decide to answer our prayers like we want Him to, but He will answer them. The good thing about praying is knowing we are doing everything we can do. We need to let that give us comfort and continue to pray.
