When You Hesitate to Pray

“Nope, not doing it.”

I shoved the assignment deep into my backpack, ignoring the red scrawl that invited me to office hours.

I’d try harder.

I’d get a tutor.

But I really didn’t want to go to him for help.

My senior year of college, I had an intimidating professor—one with a reputation.

Everyone knew the man had little patience for questions. My peers frequently left his office in tears. And overall, he just didn’t seem to like students very much.

So, even though he’d invited me to seek his help, I resolutely avoided his office and only asked carefully-crafted questions in class—those I thought he wouldn’t frown upon.

Basically, because I was intimidated, I pulled back and tried to handle my problems on my own.

Have you ever been in a similar situation? Where you needed help, but were too intimidated to ask for it?

Sometimes, we can even feel this way about going to God in prayer.

We know Scripture invites us to pray, and yet…we feel intimidated bringing our little concerns before Almighty God.

We wonder…

Will He be put out by my neediness? Will he judge me for not being able to figure it out on my own? Does He even want to hear from me, small as I am?

So, we pull back.

We try to solve things ourselves.

And if we do eventually pray, we show up with carefully-crafted words we think God will approve of.

But when we take this approach to prayer, we end up missing out.

Because the truth is: God is nothing like my old college professor.

Listen to what Jesus says to His disciples in John 16:26-27:

“In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father Himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. (NIV)

This passage highlights a reality that can reshape our prayer lives:

The God we pray to loves us.

Consider what else you know about God…

He’s the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe.
He is the all-powerful King on the highest throne.
All the resources in existence are at His disposal and everything we see would change instantly at a word from Him.
He is all-knowing, holy, righteous and pure.
He gives out verdicts in the highest court.

This is the God we are invited to talk to.

Talk about intimidating!

Yet this great God doesn’t look down His nose at us. And He isn’t put out by our questions.

Because just as much as God embodies those big and mighty attributes, He embodies this warm and familiar one: God is a father who loves His children.

He looks at us with compassion. He welcomes us—for the first or hundredth time—with grace for our failings and strength for the day.

So in light of this beautiful reality, we would do well to consider 2 questions:

Am I God’s child?

In verse 27, Jesus says, “the Father Himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.”

This is how we become God’s child: through personal faith in Jesus. As John 1:12 says, “to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God…” (NIV)

Being God’s child—through faith in Jesus—is what gives us open access to our Father’s throne-room. So can you say that you are a child of God through Christ?

2. How can I pray more like God’s beloved child (and less like a scared student)?

If you are God’s child, you are invited to pray in 5 very special ways:

Talk to your Father whenever: You don’t have to wait for office hours or for Sunday morning. You don’t have to make an appointment. You can go to God the moment you have need and as often as you like. His door is always open.

Talk to your Father about anything and everything: No topic is off-limits with God. You can share your needs, hurts, doubts and joys. He welcomes the topics that are too big to handle or too small to mention in other company. Your Father cares about it all.

Talk to your Father first: With professors and friends, we only ask for help once we’ve tried to fix things on our own. But God wants His children to flip that script. We are invited to go to God first—without answers or efforts of our own…because we know we’re in need of His.

Talk to your Father without perfect words: As much as we may love beautiful prayers, God doesn’t require pretty. And I’m glad for that. We don’t need to pray with perfect words because we come in the perfect name of Jesus. He Himself is our entrance and acceptance before God so we are freed from needing to perform in prayer.

Talk to your Father even though you can’t see Him: The Disciples had likely gotten used to going to Jesus, whom they could see, for their needs. But in verse 26, Jesus points out: when He returned to heaven, they would be praying to God without being able to see Him—just like we do today. Sometimes this is hard, isn’t it? Because we can’t see God nod in acknowledgment, we wonder: is He really listening?

But Jesus’ words here encourage us: keep praying.

Accept every invitation to talk to God—whether that invitation be scrawled across our struggles or whispered in our joys.

Because God has a reputation of His own… He loves us.

This devotion is based on one of the Scriptures from my reading plan: “God’s Love for Us.” To receive a copy of the reading plan, sign up for the email list below. Hope you’ll follow along!

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