I'll write a new post later on, but below is one I wrote on facebook a while ago, and at the very least it will take up some space until I have time to write again.
Why is it so difficult to pray?
This was a question recently assigned to me by the web page I write for. For the past 5 days, I really thought about what I should write. As I sat down to compose my response, nothing I previously intended to write about actually made it into the answer. However, I have been asked this question before by a few people, so I thought some might find it interesting.
There could be many reasons people find it difficult to pray. It doesn’t seem that it should be that hard because in essence it is just talking to God. However, unlike talking with other people, God rarely verbally responds. We have instances in the Bible – often with Moses – where God actually speaks out loud. But usually when we pray, we speak and we don’t hear a response. This can be very frustrating, especially when we have a question we want answered.
Yet God in His infinite wisdom knew this would be a struggle and so He left us with His Word. It is a book filled with God’s thoughts, stories, life examples, instruction, and love. The Bible gives us insight concerning God’s character and His will. If we read the Bible and meditate on His Word, we will find it easier to talk to God and find answers to some of our questions.
Maybe this anecdote will help you further understand what I’m trying to say. In college I volunteered at a local church to work with special needs adults. I was assigned to work with a particular middle age man, Herm, who was non-verbal. He could say, ‘hi’ and his name, but that was it. It took a really long time for me to learn to communicate with him. At first, we had very little in common. Herm was twice my age, and I had never met him before. I didn’t know what he liked, I didn’t understand his mannerisms, and I had a very difficult time connecting with him. But over time, we got to know one another. I learned by watching him that Herm was an excellent basketball shooter. He also loved to do puzzles and he certainly preferred some foods over others. The more time I spent with him, the better I was at communicating with him and the more I understood who he was. It is similar with God. It can be very hard communicating with God if we don’t know who He is. But we can get to know him by reading His word. Once we know Him better, it is easier to pray. God does listen and he definitely responds. But He responds in His own way and in His own time, similar to Herm.
The last thing the devil wants for us to do, is to love, serve, and talk with God. So, he will put many things in our way to make it seem more difficult. But never give up. God loves us and longs to talk with us. We can tell him anything – after all, he already knows us better than we know ourselves. And as we get to know Him, we also learn to follow Him.
Jesus said in John 10:3-5, “3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”
Later on he emphasized this again in John 10:27-28, “27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.”
Paul also writes in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “pray continually.”
I have a child who will talk my ear off at home, but when we are in public, she won’t speak to a soul. In a way this mirrors our spiritual life. It is so much easier to talk with a God we know. God wants to be in constant dialog with us, and the better we know Him the more naturally we speak with Him.
This was a question recently assigned to me by the web page I write for. For the past 5 days, I really thought about what I should write. As I sat down to compose my response, nothing I previously intended to write about actually made it into the answer. However, I have been asked this question before by a few people, so I thought some might find it interesting.
There could be many reasons people find it difficult to pray. It doesn’t seem that it should be that hard because in essence it is just talking to God. However, unlike talking with other people, God rarely verbally responds. We have instances in the Bible – often with Moses – where God actually speaks out loud. But usually when we pray, we speak and we don’t hear a response. This can be very frustrating, especially when we have a question we want answered.
Yet God in His infinite wisdom knew this would be a struggle and so He left us with His Word. It is a book filled with God’s thoughts, stories, life examples, instruction, and love. The Bible gives us insight concerning God’s character and His will. If we read the Bible and meditate on His Word, we will find it easier to talk to God and find answers to some of our questions.
Maybe this anecdote will help you further understand what I’m trying to say. In college I volunteered at a local church to work with special needs adults. I was assigned to work with a particular middle age man, Herm, who was non-verbal. He could say, ‘hi’ and his name, but that was it. It took a really long time for me to learn to communicate with him. At first, we had very little in common. Herm was twice my age, and I had never met him before. I didn’t know what he liked, I didn’t understand his mannerisms, and I had a very difficult time connecting with him. But over time, we got to know one another. I learned by watching him that Herm was an excellent basketball shooter. He also loved to do puzzles and he certainly preferred some foods over others. The more time I spent with him, the better I was at communicating with him and the more I understood who he was. It is similar with God. It can be very hard communicating with God if we don’t know who He is. But we can get to know him by reading His word. Once we know Him better, it is easier to pray. God does listen and he definitely responds. But He responds in His own way and in His own time, similar to Herm.
The last thing the devil wants for us to do, is to love, serve, and talk with God. So, he will put many things in our way to make it seem more difficult. But never give up. God loves us and longs to talk with us. We can tell him anything – after all, he already knows us better than we know ourselves. And as we get to know Him, we also learn to follow Him.
Jesus said in John 10:3-5, “3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”
Later on he emphasized this again in John 10:27-28, “27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.”
Paul also writes in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “pray continually.”
I have a child who will talk my ear off at home, but when we are in public, she won’t speak to a soul. In a way this mirrors our spiritual life. It is so much easier to talk with a God we know. God wants to be in constant dialog with us, and the better we know Him the more naturally we speak with Him.
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