To Those Who Think Prayer Feels Dry

Prayer feels dry. Sometimes. I mean, sometimes you go to Adoration and everything clicks, and you cry. You feel like life is great. However, other times you pray, and you wonder if God even really hears you, if He even has time for you, or if He is even real.

He is real, in case you were wondering, but you’re right. Sometimes prayer feels dry. Does it mean we should just not pray?

God gave us many things. However, one of the most beautiful things that He gave us, is free will. He gave us free will because He wants us to love Him because we want to, not because we have to. Moreover, here is my theory: He gives us silence sometimes because He wants us to talk to Him. Love is not about instant gratification. That is not how it works. Love is about sacrifice. Love is about wanting what is best for the other, even if it is hard. Love is about trusting the other even if we feel we can’t. Love is. It just is. You can’t twist it, or bend it, or manipulate it. If you do, it is no longer love. Our love with God will always be more perfect than with another human being because, in our relationship with God, one of the two in the relationship is, you know, God. That means our love with Him will sometimes require more sacrifice and faith, but it is worth a lot more. If He always answered our prayers, then our relationship with Him could become really one-sided. We always ask, and He always gives. So, when prayer feels dry, that’s when our relationship with God becomes really two-sided.

When our prayers feel dry, that is our chance to give God everything we have. That is our chance to tell God that we don’t understand Him or maybe His plans, but that we are there. God listens. God knows. That is how true love is shown: when things are done not because one has to, but because one knows the other will somehow appreciate it.

When you feel like prayer is dry, when you are not getting anything out of it, imagine yourself in a desert. There is nothing, no plant life, no sound of birds nearby. Nothing. Imagine you are sitting in the burning sand, and tell God, “This is how much I love you. Let me stay here until you want something else from me”. If you can’t find water to satisfy you, ask Him to make you the water that satisfies others in the desert. He’ll answer. Why? Because He loves you, and because He was always there. Also, by doing that, you have shown Him that you are not in for a lukewarm relationship with Him. You are burning for love for Him even if it doesn’t feel like it. Remember, even if you don’t feel like it is doing anything, it is. God knows. God sees. God remembers. God loves.

With Mary in Christ,
Someone who just got out of the desert.