How do you keep praying for the long haul? After a while the dopamine rush of prayer subsides then there’s the long slog of it. There’s nothing new. Sometimes it seems you’re repeating yourself or watching your prayers go up past the ceiling like unrequited smoke signals. Often there are prayers that go unanswered (especially prayers for the salvation of loved ones. don’t know why that is?). How do you stay engaged and motivatated to talk to God when it gets boring?
I think the key is remembering it’s a conversation and a relationship. When we’re in continuous ask mode it becomes monotonous. If anyone has kkids then you know what I’m talking about. They will keep requesting that one thing whether it’s a new bike or a trip to McDonald’s. They are obsessive. And it gets old fast. At least for you. They’ll keep asking like their words are water wearing down the canyons of your dried up soul.
This is how we treat God sometimes. Just obsessed over one thing. The problem is he sees the bigger picture and knows what we need. He sees relationship. He just wants to be near us. That’s the vision in the mind of God.
You may think prayer is about you but for God it’s about us. I and thou. When we talk to God outside of the context of loving relational nearness then we miss out on the point of prayer. And that’s when the boredom sets in. There’s an ignorance to the genuine gift and privilege of having an audience with the Creator and Sovereign King of the Unvierse. How could that be boring? Even if no words were said it’s the greatest encounter anyone can ever have.
This is what I’m seeing in works like Practice the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence and Letters by A Modern Mystic by Frank Laubach. The nearness factor is underrated.
There is no sweeter manner of living in the world than continuous communion with God. Only those who have experienced it can understand. However I don’t advise you to practice it for the sole purpose of gaining consolation for your problems. Seek it, rather, because God wills it and out of love for him…If we only knew how much we neeed God’s grace, we would never lose touch with Him. Believe me. Make a commitment never to deliberately stray from Him, to live the rest of your life in his holy presence. Don’t do this in expectation of receiving heavenly comforts; simply do it out of love for Him.
Brother Lawrence puts the weight on being close to God. It’s more than just getting stuff. It’s seeking his face and not just receiving from his hand. It’s when the giver is the gift.
For a lonesome man there is something infinitely homey and comforting in feeling God so close, so everywhere! Nowhere one turns is away from friendship, for God is smiling there. It is difficult to convey to another the joy of having broken into the new sea of realizing God’s “here-ness.” This morning our theme was “Jesus’ view of prayer.” It seemed so wonderfully true that just the privilege of fellowship with God is infinitely more than any thing that God could give. When He gives Himself He is giving more than anything else in the universe.
Frank Laubach Letters by A Modern Mystic
When prayer gets boring we need to do a reality check. Do we understand who we’re talking to? Are we hungry to just be near him and wait for him to speak? Because it’s not about us. If it were then prayer would just be a bad first date where one of the people only talks and isn’t interested in the other. Prayer isn’t boring when we’re in awe of his nearness and presence. Prayer gets boring because we get boring. Selfish and boring. No one wants a conversation partner like that. Not even God.
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