What to Do When Prayer Feels Pointless
Prayer
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By Heather Adams, Crosswalk.com
Almost every Christian has been there – lifting up prayers to God and feeling like He doesn’t hear them. We make a request out of our own personal need or on behalf of someone else, and God is silent. Or even worse, we don’t sense His presence at all. These times can be puzzling and frustrating, and might even lead us to doubt if prayer is worthwhile. But we need to know that they are part of the normal human experience.
In the midst of wondering whether prayer is pointless, we have a choice to make: to focus on our feelings, or to look for God’s truth. In fact, in His Word we can see people of great faith who struggled with the same questions and found more of God in the process. They discovered that feeling distant from God isn’t a failure, but an invitation to grow.
What Causes Us to Think Prayer Is Pointless
We want to fix “dry” times of prayer instantly, and it doesn’t usually happen that way. But by understanding what causes those periods, we’ll be better able to ride them out. Here are several possible reasons for such a season:
Our Physical and Emotional Condition
When we are dealing with fatigue or upset, it’s much harder to settle into prayer. Heightened emotions or tired bodies, for instance, can distract us and keep our minds busy. And by concentrating more on ourselves, we miss God’s quiet voice and think He’s not taking care of us. Then prayer seems pointless.
Our Expectations for Results
If we think of prayer only as a means to get things we want, or to get a quick result, then we begin to measure the success of our prayer life by how good we feel and how soon situations work out. And instead of trusting in God’s plan and timing, we tend to become impatient and feel He’s let us down. Then prayer seems pointless.
Our Worries about God’s Silence
When we assume that we’ll feel God’s presence or hear a message from Him every time we pray, we put pressure on Him to show up and on ourselves to hear something. Quiet moments could start to generate anxiety, because we think God is unhappy with us, or even pulling away. Then prayer seems pointless.
How David Counteracted Doubt about Prayer
David is known in the Bible as a man after God’s heart. His life was built on learning God’s Ways and following His Will. And yet, even David faced times when it seemed his prayers went unheard and unanswered.
Some of his Psalms reveal how hurt he felt; perhaps we can relate to that. But they also show us that he decided to concentrate more on His Heavenly Father. Those thoughts turned David back toward meaningful prayer and worship.
“My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest” (Psalm 22:2).
Anger could have totally stopped up his prayers. But David focused on God’s sovereignty, which gave him reassurance. So in verse 3 he lifted up, “Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One…”
“To you, Lord, I call; you are my Rock, do not turn a deaf ear to me. For if you remain silent, I will be like those who go down to the pit” (Psalm 28:1).
Fear might have silenced him. But David claimed God’s victory, and his laments to the Lord became praises. Verse 6 is a determined prayer: “My Lord is my strength and my shield…”
“I say to God my Rock, ‘Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?” (Psalm 42:9).
Depression could have sapped his desire to pray. But David leaned into giving honor to his God and found encouragement. In verse 11 he instructed himself and others to, “Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”
How We Can Rediscover the True Meaning of Prayer
We can explore God’s deeper purposes for prayer:
All through Scripture, believers are called to pray. Beyond teaching us the importance of asking for our needs to be met, God offers prayer as a gateway to know and love Him more fully.
“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know” (Jeremiah 33:3).
Prayer is meant to be a part of our relationship with Him.
“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me” (Revelation 3:20).
Prayer is meant to help us become more aware of His goodness.
“If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:11).
Prayer is meant to change us while He works on our circumstances.
“…if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
We can return to the basics of prayer by following a few simple steps.
1. By Being Honest about Our Struggle
David openly expressed his feelings and thoughts to His Father, and so can we.
“I am worn out from my groaning. All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears” (Psalm 6:6).
2. By Simplifying Our Prayers
David often found release by lifting a quick cry up to God – just calling out “Help me, Lord God” can lead us to a deeper connection with Him, too.
“Hear my cry, O God…” (Psalm 61:1).
3. By Embracing the Silent Moments of Prayer
David was not afraid to wait quietly for God, and our faith can grow just by patiently sitting still until He speaks to us.
“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord” (Psalm 27:14).
We can try to experience prayer in new ways. God must be the only object of our worship, and we must always seek to honor Him. If we submit to that, then He allows us freedom to explore different ways of praying and to find activities that inspire us to pray.
Do you like to write? Try composing your own prayer or Psalm. Do you like to be active or creative? Try lifting up prayers as you walk in nature, or bake, or draw a picture. Do you enjoy helping others? Try joining or forming a prayer group – fellowship, whatever the number, has a healing and hopeful quality to it.
We can, and should, reach out to find support. Seeking help as we work through challenges like questioning the point of prayer is not only good, but wise. Godly people around us like pastors and trusted Christian friends and family can be great sounding boards and offer some insights. Writing out our thoughts in a journal or letter gives us a chance to look at things a little more clearly. Reading about the journey others have taken in this area can also be reassuring.
How to Persevere in Prayer
The bottom line is that when prayer seems pointless, we have to realize that thought is based on emotion, not God’s truth. We must decide to fix our minds on how God views prayer, and to obey His call to do it. He hears, honors and answers every prayer we lift up.
And as we determine to wait for God, to hear His voice or to see Him move, our hearts start to align more with His. In those challenging times of silence, we’ll grow in patience, faithfulness and self-control – two fruits of His Spirit. And if we keep up our prayer habit, He’ll bless us with more of the other fruits like love, joy, and peace as well. Prayer will gain a new richness and meaning.
“In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly” (Psalm 5:3).
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/FG Trade Latin
Heather Adams is an author, speaker, and singer living in Connecticut. Heather’s passion is to equip and encourage believers to seek more of God’s truth and to experience more of His joy each day. Her book, Bow Down: The Heart of a True Worshipper is a practical, 30-day devotional about worship based on the writings of King David. Heather's blog, Worship Walk Ministries, offers weekly Scripture passages and insights to ponder. A native New Englander, Heather is settling into her home in the South, trying out local foods and watching for the alligators that live nearby!
