Overcoming Prayer Hurdles
How do we clear our obstacles to praying?
Illustrations by Andrew Bosley and Derek L. Smith
“Pray always.” The Savior gives this instruction 10 times in the Doctrine and Covenants. We understand that it’s figurative—we can’t literally be on our knees praying every waking moment—but sometimes it’s hard even to pray twice a day! How do we overcome the hurdles?
The hurdle: Forgetting
We’re human. It happens.
A possible solution:
Associate your prayers with something else you do every day, so that when you think of one, you think of the other. If you find you’re too drowsy to have meaningful prayers right when you wake up or before going to sleep, tie your prayers to some other day-and-night routine that you’re more alert for, such as brushing your teeth or taking medication. Or set alarms on your phone!
The hurdle: Nothing to report
What is there to say in the morning when all you’ve done since your last prayer is sleep?
A possible solution:
In the morning thank God for your blessings, including individuals who bless your life. Pray for those people. Tell God what you have planned for today and ask for His guidance. At night, report back. Tell Him everything that happened during the day that you are grateful for, that you learned from, or that you found interesting.
The hurdle: Negative feelings
Maybe you feel unworthy because of something you did—or are thinking of doing. Maybe you’re angry at God for something. Maybe you’re just not in the mood.
The solution: Pray anyway
Whatever your feelings are, God can absorb them. No one is ever, ever “unworthy” to pray, and it’s the devil who wants you to think that (see 2 Nephi 32:8). Your Father would rather hear your imperfect, incomplete prayer—the kind where you make a point of not mentioning the Big Thing that you don’t feel like addressing yet—than not hear from you at all.