Do you have trouble praying? Do you find yourself distracted when you get yourself to finally come and pray? Are your prayers lacking?

Allow three godly, bearded men help you take heart and motivate you to continue approaching God’s throne of grace in prayer.

Paul the Apostle once wrote:

The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. Romans 8:26

Richard Sibbes later commented:

A Christian complains he cannot pray. “Oh, I am troubled with so many distracting thoughts and never more than now!” But has (God) put into your heart a desire to pray? The He will hear the desires of His own Spirit in you (Romans 8:26; Psalm 38:9).

God can pick sense out of a confused prayer. These desires cry louder in His ears than your sins. Sometimes a Christian has such confused thoughts that he can say nothing but, as child, cries, “Oh, Father!” not able to express what he needs…These stirrings of the spirit touch the heart of God and melt Him into compassion towards us, when they come from the Spirit of adoption and from a striving to be better. (Taken from The Bruised Reed, p. 50-51).

J.C. Ryle summarized it:

Do not fear because your prayer is stammering, your words feeble, and your language poor. Jesus can understand you. Just as a mother understands the first babblings of her infant, so does the blessed Savior understand sinners. He can read a sign, and see a meaning in a groan. (Taken from Practical Religion).

The greatest motivation to a life of prayer does not come by focusing on our failures, but on God’s fatherly love. When we come to pray, we come as children to our Father. Even when our prayers are weak, His love is still great to hear us. When we cannot lift up our heads to speak, He still bends His ear to listen (Psalm 116:1-2).