How to Pray When You're Too Tired to Pray

Some nights the day ends and you have nothing left, and the prayer you meant to pray never comes. Learn why a short, plain prayer counts with God, and what Jesus said about willing spirits in worn-out bodies.There are stretches when the day finally winds down and you know you should pray, and you have no energy left for it. The words won't come. The moment you close your eyes, your mind wanders off to the grocery list or something your boss said that afternoon. You start to wonder if there's something wrong with your faith. Usually the answer is simpler. You're worn out.This episode opens with Charlotte Elliott, who had been sick so long she'd almost forgotten what a strong day felt like. Her brother, a minister, was raising money for a school, and the whole family went to help. Charlotte was too weak to go. Lying alone at home, an old accusation came back: she was useless and a burden, and if she couldn't even help with a fundraiser, God probably had no use for her either.Scripture speaks to that exhaustion with more tenderness than most of us expect. On the night before the cross, Jesus asked His closest friends to stay awake and pray with Him in Gethsemane, and He came back to find them asleep. Matthew 26:41 records what He said: "Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak." He looked at grown men who couldn't keep their eyes open on the worst night of His life, and He put His finger on the right cause. Their spirit was willing. Their flesh had run out. There's no contempt anywhere in the diagnosis. Jesus knew what tired felt like, and He was hours from the cross when He said it.So prayer when you're wiped out can be short and plain, and God still hears every word of it. It can be one line. God, I'm here. Or, God, help me. That is a prayer, and He receives it the same way He receives the polished ones. Some of the best praying you'll ever do will be short and direct. Peter, sinking into the water, managed three words. Bart shares his own version of this, the nights he starts praying in bed and never finishes the sentence, and the years he spent waking up feeling like he'd stood God up. Charlotte's answer came the same way. With no strength and nothing to bring, she reached for pen and paper and wrote one line of a prayer that became the hymn "Just As I Am."BY THE TIME YOU FINISH LISTENING, YOU'LL DISCOVER:Why exhaustion at prayer time usually says nothing about the state of your faithWhat Jesus said in Gethsemane about willing spirits in worn-out bodiesA one-line prayer you can pray tonight when you have nothing else leftGod has a long habit of using people who come to Him with nothing left but themselves. Say your one line tonight, and let Him handle the rest of it while you sleep.Share This Episode:https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/320Need Prayer? Leave me a voicemail:https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/voicemailWant to keep these devotions coming? Please consider supporting this podcast.https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/support/Rate and Reviewhttps://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/reviews/new/Connect with BartFacebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/dailydevotionsforbusylivesWebsite: https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.comFeeling spiritually drained? Start here. Download your free copy of my eBook Making Time for Jesus here: https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/subscribe.