Why Don't I Feel Like Praying?

“I had a wonderful prayer time today on the way to work,” a friend commented. Another lady wrote that when she prayed at work, she “felt connected.”

Sometimes when we pray, we may not feel like praying; we pray simply because we want to be faithful. Then, at times we find it easy to pray—perhaps we sense a great need or we’re aware of how much God loves us—for whatever reason, we feel in touch with God.

“Always pray in the Spirit,” Paul instructs in Ephesians 6:18. Do we remember it’s our privilege to always do this?

If we’re praying “in the Spirit,” the attitudes we have when we pray will be the attitudes the Holy Spirit has. The fruit (attitudes) of the Spirit is listed in Galatians 5:22: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. We hinder the Spirit’s praying through us if we don’t love the one we pray for. To prepare ourselves to pray in the Spirit, we can ask God to give us His love, His patience, His kindness.

Kindness is the opposite of severity. If in our praying, we keep in step with the Spirit, instead of focusing on faults, we focus on loving. The Holy Spirit within us is a “spirit of grace” (Zech. 12:10).

One man told of beginning to pray for someone by saying, “O God, You know that brother, how cold....” Immediately the Holy Spirit rebuked him for judging. His role was not to accuse his Christian brother. Satan is the accuser (Rev. 12:10). While confessing his sin of judging, he remembered the verse, “if there be any praise, think on these things.” He began to praise God for the man’s hard work, his tact, his faithfulness. Immediately, he sensed the Spirit’s help.

Dear Jesus, help me to pray with Your perspective and Your attitude so I can truly pray in Your Name.

“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it” (John 14:13, 14).