PRAY When You Feel Like Praying….AND When You Don’t

II Cor. 5:7 for we walk by faith, not by sight

This is the constant, everyday challenge of my Christian life.  Pain, loss, suffering, confusion, feeling poor and poorly, weakness, being overwhelmed, helplessness, etc., all remind me of who I am and how much I need Jesus.  (John 15:5 … apart from Me, you can do nothing.)  I am motivated to pray when I’m feeling these things.

On the other hand, the temptation I face in the midst of God’s blessing is to take a little ‘credit’ for myself and slide into ‘cruise mode’, trust myself more, and ‘lean on my own understanding’  Prov. 3:5.  This leads to not acknowledging Him in all my ways, but rather trying to figure things out on my own and a ‘do it myself’/’things will all work out ok’ mentality.  For me this is particularly displayed by little praying.

It happens in every area – physical health, material wealth and comforts, and even in spiritual health and ministry-kingdom work.  That’s why Jesus reminds us, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,…Matt. 5:3” as the attitude which is foundational for REAL (eternal) life.

This is exactly what happened to God’s chosen people – Israel, and sadly still happens to most of His children today, Deut. 8:11-18  ‘Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God…  otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them,…and all that you have multiplies, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out …of  slavery…  Otherwise, you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’  But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who is giving you power to make wealth,…

C.H. Spurgeon had some good counsel on this: “We should pray when we’re in a praying mood because it would be sinful to neglect so fair an opportunity. We should pray when we’re not in a praying mood because it would be dangerous to remain in so unhealthy a condition.”

(And don’t forget to pray for our nation.  Deut. 8:20 Like the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so you shall perish; because you would not listen to the voice of the LORD your God.)