Sometimes I just don’t feel like praying.
I know I am supposed to, and I know that’s the way we communicate with God. I know all that fancy theological stuff, but sometimes I just don’t want to.
And I think it’s because sometimes prayer feels like an obligation instead of a joy and delight. It feels like this thing that I’m obligated to, required to, forced to do because it’s a “spiritual discipline”.
And that term makes it sound like work or like a chore. And other times, I just don’t feel like praying because I just don’t have any motivation.
But I don’t want to feel that way. I don’t want to feel like talking to God is a burden. So there are a few things that I have done to help me to pray regularly and actually enjoy it. So that’s what I’m sharing with you today.
1) Play Worship Music
Here’s the thing: sometimes I just don’t feel like talking to God. It could be that I’m upset with Him or it could be that it feels like a chore, and I just don’t have the desire or energy to do it.
And when that’s the case, I play worship music. So this could be listening to worship music through my earphones while I’m at work, or it could be listening to it in the car or at home.
And what I have found is that it changes the atmosphere. It also helps to soften my heart towards the Lord. The music changes my mood and helps my heart to get into an attitude of praise.
After listening to the music for a while, I might start to sing along and reflect on the goodness, power or sovereignty of God.
It brings me into a place of worship, which makes it so much easier to talk to God because:
- I remember who He is and His faithfulness
- It helps me to be captivated by His love and character
- It softens my heart towards God
And as a result, I naturally want to start praising and thanking Him.
Let me share one experience with you. There was a time when I didn’t really feel like praying, and I didn’t feel like going to church either. But one thing I would do is play worship music at home.
One night, I was listening to a Christian album, and when it got towards the end, there was one song that was written as if God were talking directly to you.
It’s like the Lord spoke to me through that song, and it broke the hardness of my heart because I was captivated by His love and His constant pursuit. And that just led into a deep, heartfelt time of prayer.
2) Reframe the Way I See Prayer
The next thing I do is reframe the way I see prayer.
I think most of us learnt how to pray in a church setting or while being around other Christians.
A lot of times, prayer in these settings can be very formal, lengthy, loud, polished and sometimes even structured.
I would often hear prayers like “Mighty God of Daniel, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, we come before you, thanking you for your goodness. We know that you are able to do exceedingly abundantly more than we think or ask, so we come to you…”
I think somewhere along the line, I started to believe that’s how my prayers need to sound. I thought I had to be super formal all the time. And I thought my prayers had to be long.
I think those beliefs contributed to me seeing prayer as a chore or something that’s going to take up lots of time.
So I had stop calling it “prayer” and start calling it “conversations with God” because what you call it can affect how you see it.
My brain had already perceived prayer as a chore, so I had to call it something totally different so my brain could see it differently and get excited.
I have good conversations with my friends, and they leave me feeling happy. So I thought if I call it conversations with God, then my brain will get happy and excited.
And that has really helped me to talk to the Lord more.
If something is bothering me and I need to process my emotions, I tell myself that I’m having a therapy session with the Lord.
The amazing thing is that I have received so much insight, revelation and breakthrough in these therapy sessions with the Lord.
Every time I get a breakthrough, I’m like, “Lord, why do I not talk to you more often?”
When I was younger, for me, prayer was more about asking the Lord for things.
But now, I have been sharing with the Lord what’s on my mind, my desires, my fears, and my worries, and I have been enjoying these conversations with Him way more.
It helps me view God as a friend instead of a genie.
So think about one of your good friends with whom you can totally be yourself. Then talk to God just like how you would talk to that friend.
3) Keep It Simple
The next thing that I do when prayer feels like a chore is that I keep it simple. I shattered the belief that prayer had to be long, loud and done at a specific time.
I used to think that I had to pray long and loud and that I had to wait until I was in a quiet, private space to pray.
But now some of my prayers are 1 to 4 sentences long.
Have you ever had a thought that you need to pray about something or for someone, and then you told yourself that you would pray later at home?
I have had that thought, and I realized that when I got home, I didn’t pray.
So now I’m trying to pray right away once the thought pops up in my mind. It’s still a work in progress, but I’m trying to do that more often.
A lot of times in those cases, when the thought pops up, I’m busy, so I just say a short prayer. I strongly believe a short prayer is better than no prayer because prayer doesn’t have to be long to be strong.
Another thing I have been doing is just saying a gratitude prayer. This can be a short prayer or a long one.
It can be as simple as saying, “Lord, thank you for my ability to walk freely.”
Or it could be a whole list of things you are grateful for, like family, friends, food, health, and the ability to see.
Be specific in these gratitude prayers, and as you do so, you will realize how blessed you are.
Takeaway
I want you to remember that prayer is not a performance. It’s about connecting with God. It’s about sharing your heart with Him and listening to what He has to say.
So play some worship music, reflect on His goodness throughout your life and thank Him for all that He has done.
Not every prayer has be lengthy. Not every prayer has to be a request. So say a short prayer of gratitude right now….even if it’s one sentence.