Practically Praying: Problems with Prayer
Sermon preached at Barclay Church, Edinburgh by Rev D. Graham Leitch
23 March 2003

In the past ten years the intermediate technology (IT) revolution has has transformed our ways of communicating with each other! Two out of every three folk in the United Kingdom now have access to computers and the Internet. The market for mobile phones has expanded exponentially as it has changed from a novelty to a necessity of modern life. Two-thirds of the population use mobile phones and more than 50 million text messages ares sent every single day!!

TROUBLESHOOTING
Unfortunately the problem for the technophobe is working out how to use them in the first place, and knowing what to do when things go wrong. That’s why it’s comforting that the user manuals for most modern technology include a section on “troubleshooting.”

In this final chapter of“Practically Praying”- on the “how to...”of prayer - we’re going to do some “trouble-shooting.”

We’ll look at some of the common problems people meet when they start to pray or become more serious about developing or deepening their prayer life.

There are two things that we need to realise immediately.

PRAYER IS NOT A ‘NEUTRAL ZONE’
In the first place, prayer takes us to the heart of the spiritual life and the closer we get to the heart and core of things spiritually (the nearer we draw to the reality we call God), the more aware we shall become that the spiritual sphere is NOT a “neutral zone.” Just as there a forces or powers of Good, so too, we shall soon discover, there are forces or powers of evil. The Bible calls them the “spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm.”(Ephesians 6:12) Their commander is named in the Bible as “Satan” or “the Devil.”

I often think that the antipathy to prayer which is co common even amongst Christians and the intensity of the battle good souls have to make prayer a daily habit in life, is a powerful proof of the reality of the Devil!!

Just because prayer takes us to the heart and core of the spiritual life, the closer we get the more aware we’ll become that the spiritual sphere is not a “neutral zone” and the more intense the struggle will be!!

MANY PROBLEMS ARE COMMON AND SHARED
The second thing to realise is that the problems and difficulties you will encounter when you “jump in” and start to “swim” (when you start praying) aren’t peculiar to you and don’t mean you’re peculiar either!

You’ll soon find, if you talk to others about your problems in prayer, that they’re not unique or even uncommon. Others have found the same; been faced with the same unbidden thoughts; been haunted by the same doubts:

“Why is prayer sometimes such hard work?” “What about ‘unanswered’ prayers?” “But I can’t help falling asleep?” “My prayer time keeps getting disturbed!” “I feel as though it isn’t ‘real’ somehow! - that prayer’s some kind of psychological trickery or double-think”

Of course there’s a very simple way to avoid all the problems. Just give up the effort! Abandon prayer! Just don’t bother! Write it off as an irrelevance!! But I’m assuming you want to pray and want to be a better pray-er.

So today let’s look at some of the problems and try to deal with them. Remember while we do so that there is an “enemy of our souls” who will use every diabolical stratagem at his disposal - every worldly scheme and every fleshly weakness to oppose you.

And, of course, it isn’t even necessary for you to believe in the Devil at all for this to happen. In fact it will service his cause greatly if he can persuade you to disbelieve in his existence!

THE PREFERENCES OF THE DEVIL
The devil’s first preference is that you never START praying in the first place. Whenever you set out to pray he’ll whisper “later” “not now!” “ you’ve not got time!” He’ll very often bring to your remembrance the things you’ve forgotten to do. And he’ll magnify the importance of doing them immediately!

The fact that this is the Devil’s stratagem may quickly become apparent, because if what you’ve “forgotten to do” is some Christian act of kindness, having diverted you from prayer, he’ll use something else less damaging the cause of darkness to ‘divert’ you again

The devil’s first preference is that you never START praying. But once you do’ the focus of his efforts will be to get you to STOP as soon as possible. If he fails in this then he’ll often whisper “hurry up!: or “you’ve done enough!”and get you to rush your prayers!!

This, of course, is insulting and discourteous to God, but the enemy of our souls will find a way to “block” this truth or “blot” it from our consciousness.

When it comes to the ways the Devil uses to attack our prayer life we are fortunate. His methods are often quite predictable and, as a result, we can to some extent plan counter-measures and be prepared to diminish their threat.

1. DISTRACTION, INTERRUPTIONS AND TIREDNESS
Three of the measures he very commonly uses are distraction, interruption and and tiredness. It may not be possible to avoid these completely but common sense can help to minimise their affect:

• DISTRACTION most commonly occurs if we don’t take a little time to prepare to pray by consciously setting aside the clamant noise and pressures of the day to centre on God. A deliberate rather than a casual approach to prayer helps.
  
  Also, the practice of praying out loud, or the moving of the lips, aids concentration and focus. But always remember that “a distraction”(say, bringing a person or a situations unexpectedly to mind) may also be the prompting of the Spirit to pray for that person.
  
  
• INTERRUPTIONS aren’t always avoidable and, for the busy parent with limited accommodation and young children, may be inevitable. But keep experimenting until, if possible, you find a time each day you can “ring-fence” for God.
  
  If this proves impossible, remember the advice given earlier about integrating prayer with life and put it into practice. And try to arrange, occasionally, a morning or afternoon or even a whole day when you can escape and enjoy a spiritual retreat.
  
  
• TIREDNESS is a more difficult one to deal with since it seems, often, to be either psychological or spiritual, rather than physical, in its origins.
  

What I mean is this, that the tiredness only comes upon you when you think about praying or begin to pray. In this case DON’T let it defeat you, as it did the disciples in the garden of Gethsemane, but DO battle with it and seek God’s help to overcome it!!

If the tiredness is physical the solution may be easier to identify than to achieve. GET MORE SLEEP!

2. DOUBT
Another common problem is DOUBT. When we come to pray we feel that we’re fooling ourselves and indulging in some kind of trickery. We’re plagued by questions. It just doesn’t seem “real.”

Although “little faith” or weakness of faith is today common - endemic in the churches - the Bible’s attitude to it is one of intolerance. Walking with the disciples on the Emmaus Road after his resurrection, Jesus was deeply grieved by their lack of faith and rebuked their “slowness to believe.” In Revelation 21, it is the fate of the unbelieving to be cast into“the fiery lake of burning sulphur.”

Why is doubt censured so firmly? Why is disbelief so severely judged? In one of her books Basilea Schlink answers the question:

“Because through their attitude and behaviour, those who doubt mistrust God. If a father loves his child and sacrifices everything to take care of him, can the child hurt him more than by being mistrustful and thinking ‘My Father doesn’t intend to do anything good for me!”

And she points out that in the Parable of the talents Jesus condemns such mistrust in the reply to the servant who accused his master of being a hard man: “Cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.”

DOUBT is common in prayer. We don’t think it works. We doubt God’s promises. We question God’s answers. It’s like a subterranean tide which invisibly but remorselessly eats its way into the foundations of discipleship and threatens its destruction!

It’s at its height when we ask for one thing but God permits the opposite. When we pray for a friend or dear one’s healing. We pray fervently, desperately. But instead of getting better they get worse and die. Or the whole world prays for peace, but God sends war.

It rages when heaven seems silent and divine omnipotence appears too weak to attend to our requests.

THE REMEDY FOR DOUBT
What is the remedy?

First, recognise that in you doubt and faith are like two hungry animals waiting to be fed - but they have very different appetites! Doubt thrives on pride. Pride’s ingredients include the idea that you know better than God and that “if only He would run the world your way” it would be a much better place!

Doubt thrives on pride. Faith, on the other hand, thrives on humility. Humility’s ingredients include a humble dependence upon God, a trust in the superiority of his wisdom and an ability to walk along even the darkest path, hand in hand with Him.

As certainly as Jesus exhorts us to believe,“Have faith in God!” (Mark 11:22) He will, as we are open to His Spirit, give us the ability to trust Him.

Perhaps you wonder if you’re “good enough” to come to him. But everyone is a beggar at his door and the worst, as much as the best, have access to His throne when they come by way of Jesus.

DISCIPLINE AND PERSEVERANCE
Another problem is DISCIPLINE and PERSEVERANCE. Of how many today are the words of Paul to the Christians in Galatia true:“You were running well.... who hindered you...” (Galatians 5:7)

Amongst our number today, there will be many who have hitherto tried to establish to develop a regular daily walk with God or time for prayer and failed. Let me offer three hints in just a sentence or two.

• In the first place - cultivate a determined will, not a determined “won’t” - and you are more likely to succeed! If your focus is clear and you set a clear goal - say, to turn your thoughts and heart Godward each hour in the day, or to spend ten minutes in quiet with Him daily - your chance of achieving it will improve.
  
• In the second place - since form time to time you will fail - NEVER let one day missed become two days missed! In this way you will keep a check on the beginnings of spiritual declension.
  
• In the third place, recognise that DIVINE GRACE and not human effort is the secret of progress - surrender to God and let Him be your constant companion and help on the journey.
  

DRYNESS IN PRAYER
We turn from the problems of DOUBT and PERSEVERANCE to another great problem which, sooner or later, every Christian who is serious about prayer will encounter, and which has often been called “dryness” in prayer. In her book Sheila Cassidy defines it as “the absence of emotional satisfaction in prayer, the ‘disappearance’ of God.”

The way of prayer is not like the old Roman road, straight and flat - there are many twists and turns, ‘ups’ and ‘downs’ on the journey.

When God seems close and, like lovers, we can rest in in His arms and enjoy His love, prayer can seem like heaven itself. But sometimes we feel as though God’s no longer there. The warmth of His felt closeness disappears; the sense of His love evaporates; the spiritual realities become a distant dream. Often such a period of “dryness” can last for some time - it is always distressing and sometimes frightening.

At times there may be an identifiable cause. It may be the presence of some sin or a selfish or unforgiving spirit. It is to the “pure in heart” that the promise of “seeing God” is given. There may be a need for repentance. But this is by no means always so. It may be a time of particular stress for you or a time when you are physically most weary. But just as often no identifiable cause is to be found.

RULES TO FOLLOW IN A TIME OF SPIRITUAL DRYNESS
When you are experiencing a period of spiritual drought, follow these rules.

• Refuse to believe that God has abandoned you. God will never abandon of forsake His child. If the idea presents itself to your mind, slay it with the sword of God’s promise: “I will NEVER forsake you, NEVER abandon you.”
• Don’t try to work up “feelings” of God. Sometimes, when the wind blows, I can feel the very air upon which my life depends. But when it is still and I can feel nothing, the air which carries the oxygen to sustain my life is still present to the same degree.God’s presence and strength are NOT contingent upon your ability to feel them!! He IS still with you.
• Though you may give up praying for a season - don’t give up praying. A change in the pattern of praying will sometimes help. A special time of retreat to a quiet place for a day allowing God’s words in scripture and God’s works in nature to minister to your spirit is also worth considering.
  
• Don’t live in pretence - be real! Share your frustration and disappointment with others and, when prayer is difficult for you, allow others the privilege of remembering you in their prayers.
  
• Finally, take heart from the testimony of those who have travelled the same road and experienced what you are going through. The darkness will not last for ever. Scott of the Antarctic spoke of the six-month polar night as “worth going through for the joy of the returning day.” As surely as the dark night falls, the day will break!!
  

“I asked the Lord that I might grow
in faith and love and every grace;
might more of his salvation know,
and seek, more earnestly, his face.

I thought that in some favoured hour
at once he’d answer my request;
and by his love’s constraining power,
subdue my sins and give me rest.

Instead of this, he made me feel
the hidden evils of my heart,
and let the angry powers of hell
assault my soul in ev’ry part.

‘Lord, why is this?’ I trembling cried,
‘Wilt thou pursue thy *child to death?;
‘Tis in this way’ the Lord replied,
‘I answer prayer for grace and faith.

These inward trials I employ
from self and pride to set thee free,
And break thy schemes of earthly joy,
‘That thou may’st seek thy ALL in me!”
* in the original this reads “wilt thou pursue thy worm to death”

And the following, a more up to date version encouraging reflection upon the same issue of “unanswered” prayer. Like a loving Parent, God is wise enough to distiguish between what we ask and what we need, our longings and His perfect will:

He asked for strength that he might achieve;
he was made weak that he might obey.
He asked for health that he might do greater things;
he was given infirmity that he might do better things.
He asked for riches that he might be happy;
he was given poverty that he might be wise.
He asked for power that he might enjoy the praise of men;
he was given weakness that he might feel the need of God.
He asked for all things that he might enjoy life;
he was given life that he might enjoy all things.
He has received nothing that he asked for but all that he hoped for.
His prayer IS answered

May what has been shared in this series PRACTICALLY PRAYING encourage you to take stock, take heart, “jump in” and start to “swim”!! Today!