Why is prayer so hard?

The Bible says that prayer is both a duty and privilege for believers – so why do many of us struggle to pray? Because believe me, you are not alone if your answer above was a lower number than you’d like. Here are some of different reasons Christians give for why they struggle to pray:

• “My schedule’s so full already that it’s hard to make time for it.”
• “I get so distracted – every time I start praying, a stray thought or ding pulls me away.”
• “It doesn’t seem to be working, so why bother?”
• “Why would God want to hear from someone like me?”
• “I don’t really even know how to pray!”

Any of those sound familiar? For many Christians, it’s the last one that rings the most true. “I want to pray but don’t have the words or the confidence to do it.”

Did you know that Jesus’ original disciples had some of those same thoughts?

They once saw Jesus praying and asked, “Lord, teach us to pray.” And Jesus did just that. He taught them (and us!) a prayer simple enough for a child to learn but deep enough for adults to slow down and contemplate – the Lord’s Prayer.

It’s short. It’s sweet. But somehow there’s so much contained in this prayer that we could go on and on! For now, let’s focus on just one thing: you don’t need to be a “master of prayer” in order to talk with your heavenly Father. You’ve got this wonderful prayer given to you by your Savior. That’s more than a great start to a healthy and vibrant prayer life!

Jesus said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.And lead us not into temptation.’” Luke 11:2-4

Dig Deeper

Martin Luther, a German pastor from the 1500s, wrote lots more about the Lord’s Prayer in his Small Catechism, an instructional book for families to cover the basics of Christianity at home.

Check it out that part of the catechism HERE!