It’s not fun to admit, but prayer can be overwhelming.
When a loved one is sick, when tragedy strikes, when all hope is lost — these are moments when I know I should pray. But so often, the despair of the circumstance weighs me down. Clouded by grief, I can barely squeak out a few words to God.
I feel defeated by my lack of prayer.
You talk so much about God, but you can’t even pray consistently, I say to myself.
Sometimes I hesitate to pray because I think I’m not doing it right.
Intellectually, I know Christian prayer isn’t a magical incantation. We are not reciting spells to get God to do our bidding.
Still, it’s amazing how often I treat prayer this way, even if unconsciously. I worry about the length of my prayers. If I’m not praying for “x” amount of minutes, God won’t take me seriously. Or maybe I’m not presenting my requests the right way. Maybe God thinks I’m insincere because my mind wanders back to self-centered thoughts in the middle of my prayer.
What do we do when we are overwhelmed by circumstances but can’t find the words to say to God?