Praying When You Don’t Feel Like It

It was break time during the Prayer Conference when a participant said to me, “I like everything you are teaching us, but sometimes I just don’t feel like praying.” Do you ever refrain from praying because you just don’t feel like it? It’s Ok to pray because you feel like it, but not OK to refrain from praying because you don’t feel like it. Indeed, life would be a mess if we only did that which we felt like doing, and refrained from doing those things we did not feel like doing. Feelings are fickle, and are easily influenced by circumstances, health, relationships, moods, morale, and the even the weather. Prayer is too much of a priority to be put at the mercy of feelings. At Gethsemane, Jesus told His disciples to, “Watch and pray” (Mark 14:38), but they didn’t feel like doing either. They felt like sleeping, and so they did, until Jesus returned and found them in that condition. Sleeping, watching, and praying are all important, and none should be ignored due to lack of feeling. Sleep on, or pray on, but do not refrain from either due to a lack of feeling.

Join me this week in praying for the following global concerns:
• May is a month of national holidays in Russia. Pray for holidays and celebrations to be times of joy and opportunities for gospel witness.
• Pray for an upcoming meeting with Ukrainian Baptists in California that God will open the doors for a partnership to reach the 500,000 Ukrainian descendants living in Brazil who are unreached with the gospel.
• Continue to pray for relief work following Nepal earthquakes. A powerful new earthquake rattled Nepal on Tuesday, May 12, killing at least 36 people and sending thousands more rushing to the streets.
• Join the nation of Canada in praying for their country every day this month at: http://cnbc.ca/articles/pray-2015