It is wise to set aside a time and place to pray—to build the habit and to then maintain it. But creating the habit may not always create the desire. There will inevitably be occasions—sometimes a single day or sometimes a stretch of weeks-when we will not feel like praying. Our desires will be at war with our convictions.
What are we to do when we know that God has called us to pray but we don’t want to pray? H.B. Charles speaks to this situation when he says we are to pray when we feel like it and when we don’t feel like it. “Pray when you feel like it. Pray when you don’t feel like it. Pray until you feel like it.” This is precisely why we discipline ourselves to create habits, for our habits can help us do the right thing even when we don’t particularly want to.
But as we do the right thing anyway, we often find that our desires come into alignment with our convictions. It is often by our obedience that God addresses our desires. We pray when we don’t feel like it so we will begin to feel like it!
