5700 Rudnick Ave. Woodland Hills, CA 91367 (818) 346-6968 Home > Resources > Prayer Resources > It's Not Easy To Pray PRAYER RESOURCES   IT'S NOT EASY TO PRAY Maxie Dunnam As living beings, we breathe, we eat, we drink, we sleep. As human beings we breathe, eat, drink, sleep, and pray. It is part of our nature as human beings to pray. This is one of the ways we express our natural hungering for God. Natural it is; easy it isn’t.   There is a difference between the tendency to pray and the practice of prayer. We have the tendency to pray-the reflexive crying out in the face of pain or trouble; the spontaneous shout of joy in the presence of beauty, accomplishment, fulfillment. We give expression to it sporadically according to the moods and circumstances of our life.   To live a life of prayer is something else. To pray consistently is not easy. It requires commitment and discipline. Don’t condemn yourself if you find praying difficult. Most of us do. Even those whom we call saints found or find praying difficult. Read their journals and confessions, and you will find them struggling, searching, wrestling, seeking to make the natural tendency to pray become a natural practice in everyday life. The disciples didn’t find it easy.   Mark 14:32-42:   They went to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be distressed and agitated. And he said to them, “I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake.” And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. He said, “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.” He came and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, “Simon , are you sleep? Could you not keep awake one hour? Keep awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. And once more he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to say to him. He came a third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Enough! The hour has come; the son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand.”   Discipline, then, is a part of the life of prayer. The purpose of discipline, however, is to enhance and increase the spontaneous dimension of praying.   Kathryn Reasoner   Director of Discipleship