Word of Encouragement (1/11/2021)
We are talking about why prayer is so difficult for many of us. The first problem we addressed was fear of disappointment—in God and/or in our faith. The second was not feeling the need to pray as we live in the city of man. I’d like to address another problem today. It may sound paradoxical but the reason we have difficulty praying is that we don’t pray long enough.
I know what you may be thinking. How can we pray long when praying is so difficult? That’s why I said it was paradoxical. But this is what I mean: one reason that you have difficulty with prayer is that you have not experienced its sweetness, or it’s been a long time since you experienced it last. Our natural tendency is to avoid things that are not pleasant. We know that, even when we know something is good, we may be too lazy to get back to it. Think about working out. You know how good it feels to work out, especially after you are done. But it’s so hard to get off the couch and hit the gym again. Imagine how much worse it is to get back to something as difficult as prayer if you haven’t experienced how good it is!
The challenge is that, in order to experience the sweetness of prayer, you have to hang in there for a while longer than you are used to, maybe. I know it’s hard to get up a little early to pray. But even if you manage to get up to pray, the challenge doesn’t stop there. You have a hard time focusing on praying because you are not awake yet, or, if you are awake, your mind is so distracted by so many things. You try your best to pray but your mind keeps drifting away to all the things you have to do throughout the day, memories of what happened the day before, images of things you saw the other day, etc. You try for a while but your mind is full of little thoughts and images exploding all over. Instead of finding peace, you become anxious and restless. In discouragement, you give up praying and go on to take care of the urgent businesses of the day. As you repeat this experience, prayer is associated with frustration rather than peace and joy. No wonder we don’t pray.
Here is an analogy I used to describe the problem and possible solution and some people found it to be helpful. Think about taking a flight on a day that is very much overcast. I’m sure most of you have experienced it. As the plane takes off, all you can see is thick, dark clouds, even some rain. And you experience some turbulence, too. But the plane eventually rises above the overcast clouds and what do you see? The bright, glorious sun and clear blue sky! What a wonderful, breathtaking sight to behold! You see, that’s what needs to happen in our prayer life. The initial distraction you experience in your morning mind is like the thick, overcast clouds. Many of us have not stuck with prayer long enough to rise above them to see the glorious vision of the clear sky. So, it seems like the dark clouds of distraction are all there is to our prayer life. But that is not the case. I can tell you that. Countless saints can testify to that. I can also tell you that, once you rise above your mental distractions and keep at it, you realize that it takes less time to get through the distractions and reach that place of tranquility and focused fellowship with God.
I realize that this is a real challenge for many of you because of your busy schedule. But Mother Teresa supposedly said, “If you are too busy to pray, you are too busy.” Maybe you are running around like Martha, growing more bitter and resentful. Maybe you need to hear Jesus’ words to Martha: “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion [i.e., sitting at the Lord’s feet and listening to His teaching], which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41-42). Praying longer may seem difficult and even impossible, given your busy schedule. But I believe it is a worthy investment, which will yield much dividend for the rest of your life! I hope you can set aside some time to pray longer until you reach that place of undistracted and focused communion with God.