Devotion 20

Over the past few years, I feel more natural praying by myself and comfortable praying in groups. However, there are still times when I feel reluctant to get into a prayer, especially when I’m emotionally out of breath or when I feel forced to.

I read and thought more about prayer today. There can be some reasons why we still have struggles when it comes to prayer.

1. It seems to be unnatural acts. We were originally created to desire communion with God, but the effects of sin have dulled that original desire. We are taught that the only way to achieve anything is through action, but prayer seems to be a form of inaction.

2. It seems to be admission of weakness. Prayers in its most authentic form acknowledges that we are weak and dependent upon our God.

3. It seems to be unrelated to actual results. We use results in response to our arrangement. As a result, we sometimes pray as though we know better than God what is best for the outcome.

Yes, sometimes praying can be unnatural, but what we feel unnatural will become natural if we ask for the power of the Spirit to make it so. In order to acquire the habits of worship and intercession, we must make a conscious effort to overcome the part of us that thinks that praying is not a natural part of life.

Yes, praying signals weakness and dependence, but that’s the truth about us, and we will be strengthened through Jesus Christ our Savior if we submit ourselves to Him in prayer. A person shows significant spiritual growth when he finds it possible to admit that he needs a relationship with God in order to become the human being he was created to be.

And yes, the answers to our prayers do not always coincide with our expectations, but the problem is in our expectations, not in the capacities or sensitivities of God. Prayer is far more the business of aligning ourselves with God’s purposes than asking Him to align with ours.

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us — whatever we ask — we know that we have what we asked of him. - 1 John 5:14-15