But Lord, I Don't Want To Pray...

We all know that life can have tow very distinct sides.  On one side, we can see the beauty in everything we encounter, we can actively feel God’s blessings all over us and those around us.  There are also times that life is so heavy, that we don’t even have the energy to get out of the bed.  Just the thought of facing that thing another day drives us crazy.  The absolute last thing that we want to do is think about it, let alone pray about it.

Some days are so heavy that we don’t want to pray.  The thought of being positive despite challenging circumstances takes a lot out of you.  There seems to be no place for you to let your guard down and sit in those tough moments because someone or something always needs you.  In many circles we are involved in, unfortunately, we have to be “on” all of the time.  That’s exactly why having a relationship with our Lord Jesus is so important.  Our relationship with God our father through accepting Jesus Christ as our savior, is all the strength that we need, especially in those moments when we can’t seem to utter a word otherwise.

• We can lean on Jesus when we have absolutely no strength left - He wants us to come to Him. (Matthew 11:28)
• When we are tired of crying, we can lean God  - God keeps track of all of our sorrows, and collects all of our tears in His bottle.  He records each one in his book. (Psalms 56:8)
• He knows and understands all -  God knows that we struggle with answers to many of life’s questions.  He also knows that when he is ready for us to know, we will.  We may not realize the inner workings of everything now, but one day we will understand. (John 13:7)

Whatever you have going on, give it to the Lord.  He is waiting.  All of your fear, all of your anxiousness, all of your concern about this or that,  your apprehension about the unknown, give all of it to God.  He is longing for closeness with you.  And because He is such a good God, that closeness that he desires to have with all of his children, will ultimately be the biggest blessing not to Him, but to us.  The more we step out on faith and pray - especially when we don’t want to...

• Our confidence grows bigger (1 John 5:14)
• Our understanding of God and his ways increases (Colossians 1:9-10)
• We can spot false teachings from a mile away (Mark 13:5-6)
• We will develop a contentment that we never had before, despite life’s circumstances (Philippians 4:11-13)

So even if you don’t wan to pray, do it anyway.  Trust and believe that what you feel now is not permanent, and there is better on the other side.  When we don’t want to do the right thing yet we do it anyway, that is major.  That shows our help truly lies with the Lord.  Doing what’s right, because it’s right, will always be right.  He is waiting for us to push through our anger, our pain, our exhaustion – and come to Him. Once we do that, we can trust him with all the rest.

References
Biblica, Inc. (1984, 2011). The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Harper Collins Publishers.

Tyndale House Foundation. (1996, 2004, 2015). Holy Bible, New Living Translation. Carol Stream, Illinois. All rights reserved.: Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.