When It Is Hard To Pray

Photo by Transformation Bible Ministries

By Sherry Simmons

Sometimes it seems hard to pray.

The bible tells us to "enter his gates with thanksgiving."

" Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name." Psalms 100:4

We often hurry in our prayers, with worries, and requests. The scriptures tell us to enter with thanksgiving. When we begin our prayers by being thankful it changes our focus, from our burdens to the burden lifter, from our problems to the problem solver.

If we focus on our troubles, that is where our focus will be. It becomes difficult to see anything passed it. Our troubles will stay right there in front of everything we do. Even our daily life will be difficult because that is what we will be thinking of all day.

When we start our day by coming to the Lord, being thankful, dwelling on his goodness, there is a shift in our spirit. The goodness of our God is unsearchable. We have so much to be thankful for. When we pray being thankful for our Lord, and all his mercies, more and more thought of praise will fill our minds. It is impossible to name all the wonderful things God has done for us.

As we come before God acknowledging him as God the Great I Am, we will be focusing on our knowledge that it is He and He alone who is in control. When we come to this place in our prayers and begin to thank him our worries fade.

Praying scripture back to God reinforces our faith. It is very powerful it is saying -God I believe in your promises, I believe in you. It helps us to get to a place of peace, where the thoughts of our troubles fade.

Philippians 4:7

"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Of course we cannot pray scriptures back to God if we do not have them in our hearts. If we do not take time to read Gods word they cannot flow from our hearts into our prayers. If we do not prioritize reading scriptures, Gods word will not be prioritized in our daily life and certainly not in our prayer life.

God gave us his scriptures for blessings, for correction, peace and for guidance. In His written word there is hope, security, peace and his unfailing unchanging eternal promises. So when we have them in our hearts and pray them back to God, it Exalts him and reminds us who we are and who He is.

1 John 3:1

"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not."

When begin our prayers with thanksgiving, acknowledging God the Creator of all and all his promises we enter into his presence renewed in our minds and hearts. Our mindset is changed from the heaviness of our worries to our God who holds the universes in his hand. Nothing is impossible or unreachable for He sits on the throne. So as we are there, dwelling on his all powerful essence we see how small our problems really are. The God of Creation who spoke the world into existence is also Our God who will work everything out to his Glory.

“We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

He commands the sun to rise, he certainly will direct our path. He goes before us and fights our battles, he calms our storms and never lets go of us.

Deuteronomy 31:8

"The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

Isaiah 45:2

“I will go before you and make the rough places smooth;

I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron bars"

Being thankful as we pray also reminds us where we are. Just think about it, here you are coming to the throne of God, coming before our Holy Almighty God. Wow how marvelous how incredible that we are able to talk with the Creator. So as we pray and are reminded of this, we are also so humbled and Thankful for the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus. It is through Jesus and Jesus alone that we may come before God. These thought are even more to be thankful for as we pray.

John 14:6

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me"

John 3:16

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life"

Ephesians 2:8

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God"

Transform you prayer life by beginning your prayers with thankfulness. Holding onto to his faithfulness to us. Praise him, thank him, and dwell on his Goodness. Pray with thanksgiving, exalted him over all your life. Pray being grateful we are able to be in his presence, thanking him for he has planned your life before you were born he has already worked out our problems. Praise him for the wonderful blessings which will come through trusting Him as he goes before us working everything out for his purpose, his Glory and our good.

Focus on the problem solver not the problem.