When You Don't Feel Like Praying

Prayer is vital to the life of a follower of Jesus because prayer connects us with the Living God. Without prayer, it is like being a branch no longer connected to a tree. We lose our abiding with Jesus and our communications with the Holy Spirit are interrupted. We know these things. They are basic and central to prayer. But there are seasons in our lives when we do not feel like praying. Let us recognize some reasons why we do not feel like praying and reflect on possible responses.

Anger or Frustration of Soul

There are times when we meet with God to pray, but we have a strong wall in our heart. And as we take time to allow our soul to speak, we recognize a deep anger and frustration of soul. Our soul is filled with resistance toward a life of prayer. Why? Often this anger and frustration of soul is an indicator to the state of our soul or spiritual life. God uses this to reveal and address something in our heart that caused a wall between us and God. For example, we may be angry at God and have not addressed the issue yet. Or we may have fallen into the routine of prayer, without the relationship which can aggravate our souls. At this moment we have a choice to follow the journey inward with the Spirit, the narrow road, or walk away from the opportunity God has presented to us and take the wide road. So if your soul is facing a wall of anger or frustration in prayer, use this as an opportunity to examine, with the Holy Spirit, the source and purpose of your anger and frustration.

Questioning, is prayer worth it?

Sometimes when we wake up in the morning, we don't feel like praying. We ask ourselves, "Is it really worth it?" This is a good question to wrestle with. Is our time of prayer and communion with God really worth it? Exploring why we give ourselves to prayer helps us develop a theology of prayer that arises out of experience, reflection and study. When we develop a theology of prayer and why prayer is worth it, we are reminded of the importance of being a praying people.

Check out these Scriptures that reveal prayer is worth it:

• You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13)
• Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. (Jeremiah 33:3)
• If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)
• And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayer and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people. (Ephesians 6:18) 
• Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. (Luke 5:16)
• Come near to God and God will come near to you. (James 4:8)

Lack of Motivation

Motivation is a key factor in prayer, and in all areas of life. We usually do something because we are motivated and have a reason to do it. But what about when we lack motivation to pray? Where does motivation come from? The motivation to pray comes from both a natural and spiritual source. By natural, we need to do things that give us life and that we enjoy so that we can be filled with motivation. Have you ever worked or studied for long hours and felt all motivation to continue leave? This is a signal we need to restore the life that has been expended. Similarly in prayer, we can come to a place of lacking motivation to pray or spiritual fatigue. To be rejuvenated in the natural, we can do things that restore our life. For example, I enjoy a run, a good book, a round of disc golf or a fishing trip. These activities restore my motivation in the natural, which impacts the spiritual.

For spiritual motivation, we are completely dependent on the Holy Spirit. We can ask the Spirit for motivation and then we must wait. As we remain (or abide) in Jesus, there is a passive work done to us by God that we can only receive as we wait and invite. We must wait for spiritual motivation from the Holy Spirit, while we also take initiative by praying for spiritual renewal.

Difficult Seasons of Prayer

Difficult seasons of prayer are inevitable, they must come. They are a natural part of following Jesus. The purpose of these seasons are to produce greater maturity in Christ and in prayer. During difficult seasons of prayer, we can only do as best we can with what we've got. We do not need to be super heroes thinking that we need to force ourselves to pray, at least in the form of prayer we might be used to. We may need to modify what prayer looks likes to adjust to the difficult spiritual season. For example, a normal routine of intercessory prayer may need to be modified to a time of waiting on God or praying for spiritual renewal. Or instead of a usual meeting place with God, new scenery or place to pray is needed to change things up. We need to be gentle with our souls during these difficult seasons, recognizing the frailty of our humanity and spiritual life. Not adjusting to changing seasons of prayer will be like trying to fit a square block through a round hole.

When You Don't Feel Like Praying

So what do you do when you don't feel like praying? I wish there was a simple answer. But just like life, there are not often simple answers to our complex problems. But be reminded, God has complete control over our spiritual and prayer lives - we can trust God. If we have done all that we can to cultivate a prayer life, yet don't feel like praying, then we are called to wait on God. As we wait, God will often do a deeper and different work in our heart than we expect. When you don't feel like praying, it's okay. Wait patiently on God. Humble yourself before the Lord and he will lift you up. (James 4:10)


Jesus, when we don't feel like praying, would we see this as an opportunity for a deeper prayer life as you work out your will in our souls and lives. May we be patient with a lack of motivation to pray, trusting that you will restore us with a greater motivation in due time as we submit and wait for your perfect timing. Amen.



You are invited to start a dialogue about when you don't feel like praying; please share your thoughts and reflections below.