When you don't feel like praying


 
I was rummaging through a draw full of papers with Bible passages I’d memorized and prayers I’d written. I came across a sweet prayer of devotion. As I read it I thought, “That’s beautiful, but can I pray that from my heart today? I don’t feel that devoted to the Lord right now.”

Then I reminded myself that loving Jesus with all my heart is not primarily about emotions. What is the Devotion I’m speaking of? To love the Lord with devotion is to choose to bless him in our prayers, words, and actions. This begins with cultivating a mindset of affection and reverence for the Lord.

When you Don’t Feel Like Praying


So the best time to offer a prayer of devotion is when you don’t feel like it! David prayed in Psalm 27, “One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life… My heart says of you, ‘Seek his face.’ Your face Lord I will seek… Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” (verses 4, 8, 14)

David offered his prayer of devotion to the Lord in a time of great danger. He was afraid and lonely. He was desperate for the hand of the Lord to help him, but most important to him was to seek the face of his Lord. Devoting ourselves to worship and serve God with all that we say and do is our greatest need. It’s the One Thing to live for, the One Thing that satisfies our souls, the One Thing that enables us to love the people around us well.

“Take Heart” for Jesus


To take heart for Jesus is to stoke the embers in the fireplace of your heart so that a fire of devotion to Jesus Christ is rekindled. You have to take it because devotion won’t just fall on you! Where does it come from? God, of course. “We love because God first loved us” (1 John 4:19). And God’s love can be manifest to us in many ways, like the Bible, the wagging tail of a dog, the blossoming of a flower, or a friend’s prayer of devotion.

I invite you to take heart and engage all your senses with my prayer of devotion, Oh, How I Love You Jesus!

 
Oh, How I Love You Jesus!
Oh, how I love you Jesus!
I meditate on your words all day long.
~
I look to your glorious face,
I listen for your all-knowing voice,
I hold your mighty hand,
I smell the fragrance of your Holy Spirit,
I taste your honey-sweet name.
~
Oh, how I love you Jesus!
I love others for your sake all day long.
 

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