"Prayer is hard," many say. But is it?
Do you find it difficult to pray? You sit down and try hard, but quickly you become distracted by a bug on the wall or the thought of eating Nutella. Well the good news is you are not alone! A lot of Christians struggle with the same conundrum!
Or maybe you become cynical. “Does God even care anyways,” you may ask. You read that God cares in His Word, but you want to see the same love in your own life today!
Whether you are a skeptic or have a short attention span, take comfort in that you are not alone. Also know that there are answers!
“To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing." - Martin Luther
Dear Skeptic:
So you find it hard to pray because you aren’t sure God hears? “Does my prayer matter?” you may ask. Maybe you have thought before, "God is a big God. He is too busy for me." Or maybe you considered, "How can my prayer make a difference? I am just one person!"
These questions are understandable. A lot of people say the same- even Christians who have been following Jesus for longer than most of us have been alive! But the truth is, when we struggle with the question, “Does my prayer matter,” it is often rooted from a place of not trusting in God’s love. We know God is all-powerful. But is is harder to believe He cares about me personally. The root question behind our skepticism is, "Does He care about me?"
If you struggle with this, you need to remember Jesus Christ! God came to earth to know us! Check out Romans 8:32. "What does this have to do with prayer," you ask. Here is the answer: If God wouldn't even spare His own Son for you, won't He care about your prayers? Of course He will! He gave His life for you!
What now? Remember God gave His Son to have a relationship with you. Write Romans 8:32 on a piece of paper and place it in a spot you will see it often. After you do this, pray. Pray God will help you remember His love for you.
Dear Mr./Miss Distracted:
Do you sit down to pray, but one minute in, your brain is thinking about the to-do list for the day? After you realize you got distracted again, you think, “I am no good at prayer.” Then you give up.
This is not an uncommon reality for many believers. Where we go wrong, however, is that we make the mistake of thinking God only wants “holy topics.” We pray the big words we hear our pastor say, instead of praying what is actually going on in our lives. The truth is God wants to hear about you: the real you! He wants to hear about your worries, your fears, the things that make you giggle, the things that hurt your feelings. Just look at Jesus! When Jesus (who is God) was on earth, He cared about the sick, the hungry, the tired, the forgotten. And the same is true today. Jesus cares about what you care about, no matter how big or small.
Instead of trying to pray “pretty prayers,” write a list of things you are worried about, talk to your friends about, or even your to-do list. Talk to God about these things, asking for His help! When we pray honest prayer, our prayer life changes!
Write down this list now and pray through it.
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