thoughts on fervent prayer [part 5]

Do you ever find it hard to pray?  

If you have, please know I have at times too. If you haven't, then you may not relate to my post. I have gone through spells when it seems prayer just isn't working.  I wonder, is it God? Is it Me? I mean, he is perfect, so it has got to be me, but what am I doing wrong?  Why don't I feel a connection? Why don't I feel he is listening? Why don't I feel that I am getting a response. Why when I am reading my Bible/Praying doesn't it seem to bring peace or comfort? I have even faced times when something was so difficult, so painful, so discouraging, so overwhelming that it made it hard to pray or that I couldn't pray at all about it.

I used to believe I was the only one who felt this way. That I was the one who experienced difficulty with prayer. I don't believe this anymore because of the conversations I have had with others about prayer.

Then there are times when I have forced myself through to pray and nothing changed. I didn't feel better. I didn't feel God was listening. I didn't feel He cared. Nothing changed. I believe this is a normal feeling that we face at times when our grief, sorrows, heartaches, pain, trials, etc overwhelm us. When we feel like we are sinking with no help in sight!

The christian life is a journey...we go through spells in our faith of being on top, connected to God, enriched, intune, happy, sad, distant, depressed, questioning, wondering, etc. I used to believe because of how "The Christian's" looked at me and said about people who didn't "get their act together" or were "not at peace" when I/they were facing hard times and that it was wrong for me/them to be down and discouraged, and that God looked at us the same way. Don't get me wrong, I believe there can be times when we need more faith, however if you read the Psalms, David was a man after God's own heart...How many times was he sad? How many times did he question God? David faced lots of emotions, just like we do. I believe we can do all things through Christ, but sometimes we need help knowing what we are to do.

I believe: God does care. He is always listening. Psalm 34:15 He doesn't always speak but He is listening. He knows what we don't know what to pray. Romans 8:26 Does this mean that we shouldn't pray? I don't think it does, but I also know that if we don't feel we can, God still understands.

Wow. Think about that. He still understands.