I find it hard to pray a lot. Not painful when I sit down and pray, or take time to talk to God in the middle of my day; just hard to find time or remember to do it. There’s always something else. Why have I found it so hard to pray?
The answer lies in a metaphor. My tradition implicitly considers prayer analagous to calling your parents. I call my parents to let them know what I’m up to, but I don’t really expect them to become involved in much of what I tell them. Is the same true when I talk to God?
Perhaps a better metaphor is eating. Prayer is nourishment for life, a vital connection to the essentials of living. Prayer is connecting with God and seeking his action and intervention. We eat not out of obligation, but because it’s necessary and enjoyable - prayer should be the same.
I’m still learning the “art” of prayer. It’s easy to say “thank you for everything and bless everyone”, but it takes thought, planning and concentration to sit down and REALLY pray. Just as it takes thought, planning and hard work to prepare a huge spread of delicious food.
Something that helped recently was my involvment in an hour’s prayer duty for a prayer chain that has gone on day and night for over a year. We were each assigned an hour of the day and given a booklet to guide us through praying for various aspects. The hour went SO quickly! I didn’t even finish the booklet!
Perhaps that’s what I should be doing for my own prayer - planning things and writing them down, then following the plan to start off with, and as I learn, it will come easier.
However, I do find I have one-liner prayers going often in the day. Not even an opening or closing line, just a quick line. Or a thought directed upward. Or just a “thanks” - He knows what for. It keeps me constantly connected and becomes more a conversation than a “have to”.
(Of course if you really want to develop a good prayer life, get a car that’s falling apart. You’ll soon be praying for entire journeys, just so you make it home alive!:) )