How To Pray Consistently: How To Pray When You Don't Even Want To Want To

I wrote a post a couple of years ago on prayer called Where To Start When You Just Haven’t For Too Long, and that is still one of my most popular posts. I find it’s helped a lot of people who wanted to press back into prayer and communion with the Lord but weren’t sure they were welcome back. 

I also find there this other group of people who struggle with prayer because they don’t find much desire within themselves even to want to pray. I identify with these folks and have been in this position before as well. If you find yourself in that place today here are some things to consider.

I want to let you guys know that all of the scriptures in today’s post come from The Passion Translation! This is a newer translation that has been rolling out books of the bible as they were completed. I just absolutely love this version, and they just released a bind up version with Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Solomon and the whole New Testament! I am in no way affiliated with them (though I will leave an affiliate link to it on Amazon at the end if you want a copy!) I am just a huge fan, and I think it will greatly bless you!(:

Know That God Is Approachable

The first piece of encouragement is to evaluate how you are currently viewing God. Check out the beginning Psalm 116 in The Passion Translation:

I am passionately in love with God because he listens to me.
He hears my prayers and answers them.
As long as I live, I’ll keep praying to him, for he stoops down to listen to my heart’s cry.
Death once started me in the face, and I was close to slipping into its dark shadows.
I was terrified and overcome with sorrow.
I cried out to the Lord, “God, come and save me!”
He was so kind, so gracious to me. Because of his passion toward me,
he made everything right and he restored me.
So I’ve learned from my experience that God protects the childlike and humble ones.
For I was broken and brought low, but he answered me and came to my rescue! Psalm 116:1-6 TPT

I think we get this weird image of God in our minds where He is angry and brash. He’s not the parent who’s thrown off guard by your actions or startled by the choices you are making. He’s not the school principal who is convinced you are a troublemaker and a waste of space. He's not the dad that too busy, or too angry, or too absent.

God is a good Father, and He’s not surprised, worried or bothered by your process. He knows where He’s leading you and He’s prepared for the hiccups and roadblocks. Praying even when you don’t feel like it helps you tap into the kindness and patience of God. Prayer builds trust in the truth that God’s got you. You’re going to be okay.

Know that He hears you.

He hears you every time you come to Him, regardless of how messy the baggage you are coming with.

“And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we also know that we have obtained the requests we ask of him.” 1 John 5:15 TPT

He’s not expecting perfection. He knows you. He just wants to spend time in connection with you.

When you haven't been super faithful in prayer do this:

Imagine turning to God, looking to where He always is because He never leaves you.
Imagine His eyes are kind and the fire in them just burns away all shame and insecurity.
So when you look at Him you know He’s missed you and you realize how much you have missed Him.
Then just talk to Him and tell Him everything.

Who You Think You Are

“…for tremendous power is released through the passionate, heartfelt prayer of a godly believer” James 5:16b TPT

You have to know that your prayers are powerful because you are powerful and you are powerful because you are covered by the blood of Jesus, you are a child of God and Holy Spirit dwells within you. Your prayers do achieve great things like changing your current circumstances or influencing the lives of the people you love or the people who lead you or our country. 

Prayer also releases God’s peace into your life. 

“Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell him every detail of your life, then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding, will make the answers known to you through Jesus Christ.” Philippians 5:6-7 TPT

 You have to evaluate yourself because a lack of desire for prayer could be a clue that you don’t know the power that lives within you. If we understood how powerful a tool our prayers are, we would have no problem praying without ceasing.

Be honest with God about how you feel. 

Lastly, you can just be honest. Just yesterday I was not excited about starting my day with prayer. I told Him that and I just kind of moved on. A bit later I was scrolling Instagram, and a beautiful video of this homeless community worshiping God caught my eye. The song they were singing to says "when I felt no worth, You paid it all for me." It wrecked me. The prayer that escaped me then was far more sincere than what I would have tried to muster up earlier. 

Sometimes it’s not about a set time each day, but it’s more about a heart that is watching and paying attention to the leading of the Spirit within. I know that sounds super spiritual, but it’s real and it’s in you and you may not notice or feel it at first, but you can learn and grow. What tugs at your heart throughout the day? Pray for that. 

God is always speaking. Just watch and respond. Trust Holy Spirit as your helper.

At some point, you just have to start. I have said it before I will say it many more times. Start a journal. Prayer journaling was HUGE for me! We, of course, sell the Intentional Prayer Journal here on the site and I highly recommend it because it has everything you could need in it. You can click here or the Intentional Prayer Tab up top to grab one. 

If that’s not in your budget, then get a $1.00 notebook and write out things and people that matter to you. Then schedule them on the different days of the week and on those days lift up those people and issues regardless of how you feel. 

If writing is not your things, then commit to a walk a day where you just practice! Just look at it as practice! You are walking this out and learning, and He is faithful to teach. 

I believe in you. God believes in you. You are a mighty prayer warrior. 

If you found this helpful or you think your friends or followers would enjoy it, would you consider sharing this out? It helps us to spread our message of hope and love further. There are share buttons on the screen to make it super quick and easy.  

If you loved the verses I shared from The Passion Translation they now have faux leather, hardcover and kindle verses of their bind up of the Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Solomon and the New Testament available on Amazon. Mike has the hardcover, and my beautiful red faux leather copy is still in transit! We also have the Kindle version with was only $7.99. You can click here to snag a copy from Amazon!

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As always I am truly thankful for you. I know time is valuable and that there are thousands of blogs out there, so I am grateful you gave some of your time to ours and I pray it encouraged you and brightened your day.

Remember you are wildly loved,