How do I pray when I don’t feel like it?
Question:
I have been good at praying. Recently though, I just feel like my prayer life is going downhill. It started with my nightly devotion and now with my morning devotion. I am just not in the mood to pray. I know how important prayer is, so it worries me. My house has become too full and noisy recently. Unfortunately, I do not always have opportunities to leave my house and find elsewhere to pray. When I force myself to pray, it seems that is the moment either my parents are sending me someplace or my siblings are making noise. Coupled with the fact that I initially don't want to pray, I feel frustrated and give up. Please what can I do? I want to get it right with God and be someone He can use.
Thank you so much.
Answer:
Consider for a moment: Which of God's commands are based on our personal feelings before we obey Him? "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome" (I John 5:3). Therefore, the command to not give up on prayer is not done only when you feel like it (I Thessalonians 5:16-18).
If your parents ask you to do something, pause in your prayers, do what is asked of you and when you return finish your prayers. Yes, it can be annoying to be interrupted, but it doesn't happen every time. If your siblings are noisy, you'll just have to block the noise out (or get earplugs).
But what I really suspect is that you've made praying to God a chore by demanding of yourself that you spend a long time in prayer. If you look at most of the prayers in the Bible, only a few are long. Say what you need to approach God about, but don't artificially make it into a long grand speech. Also, nothing says you have to wait for a particular time to pray. It is good to have a habit of starting and ending your day in prayer, but take time to pray when the need comes up instead of accumulating everything for one massive prayer.
