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Daily Devotional

 ·  1 min read

When You Do Not Feel Like Praying

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

There is a widespread assumption that prayer should be preceded by the desire to pray, and that praying without the feeling is hypocrisy.

Almost nothing else in life works this way. You do not wait to feel like being a good parent. You do not wait to feel like keeping your word. In every other domain we understand that the action often produces the feeling rather than following it.

Pray without ceasing does not describe an emotional state. It describes a running conversation, mostly ordinary, frequently unremarkable, conducted while doing other things.

So if the desire is not there today, do not wait for it. Say one honest sentence. God is not grading the performance, and He is not fooled by eloquence anyway.

Showing up when you do not feel like it is not hypocrisy. It is faithfulness, which is usually what love looks like on a Tuesday.

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