September 3, 2021

It’s fun to mow the grass in April, but by September it gets tiresome. The quotidian tasks of life still need to get done, fun or not. Some will say that our “spiritual disciplines” are the same: read your bible, pray your prayers whether you want to or not. Develop your “spiritual muscles.”

This is nonsense. And it often leads to a kind of spiritual burnout and resentment toward God.  Healthy engagement with God, through scripture or prayer, comes from genuine desire. And most times that desire is fueled by need. God, please help my child because I cannot help him anymore. Lord, please help me because I can’t seem to help myself.  I have nowhere else to turn.

Here is what the Bible says on the matter. “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16)

“O Lord our God, accept the fervent prayers of your people; in the multitude of your mercies, look with compassion upon us and all who turn to you for help; for you are gracious, O lover of souls, and to you we give glory, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.” (The Collect at the Prayers – BCP p. 395)