The Prayer Thread is a collection of teachings and practical prompts to help as we learn to pray in community. This text was originally delivered on November 8, 2024 as a short teaching at our online weekly prayer sit.
Sometimes, prayer can be hard.
Prayer is hard when your knees ache, and it is no longer easy to kneel without pain.
Prayer is hard when you begin to learn how to do it in a new way, especially that first time after your prayer life shifts.
Prayer is hard when we work to get it all right, yet it just doesn’t seem to be working.
Prayer is hard when we doubt whether our prayers are really heard or actually effective.
Prayer is hard when we pray in common, yet we have different ideas about how to do it.
Prayer is hard when you just don’t feel like doing it sometimes.
Prayer is hard when you are sleepy, and also if you are overly caffeinated.
Prayer is hard when the Holy One invites us into a new way of prayer, but we still prefer the comforts of our usual ways.
Prayer is hard when you are caring for little ones, or elderly ones, and when life is simply too full or chaotic.
Prayer is hard when you want it to be perfect, yet it isn’t.
Prayer is hard when you realize you are not God.
Yes, prayer can be hard. Nonetheless, we can still be at ease, even when prayer is hard, because we were made for this.
Despite difficulty, prayer still flows through our desires and our capacities. It may be hard, but do not fret. You’ve got this. You were made for it—to praise, to lament, to sigh, and to rest.
May all of the Holy Ones help us when prayer is hard, especially those who have gone before us, who are already held, as are we, in the Heart of the Holy One!
