How do you motivate yourself to pray as required by your religion?

Question

I find myself very lazy to pray except when I feel stressed up. How do you maintain yours?

Answer 1

Dear atm,
I am in a similar situation. It is especially frustrating to me because there was a time when I used to pray and meditate frequently and received great spiritual benefits from that.
I am frustrated because I miss the peace and closeness to God that I received from regular prayer. One of the things that I think made a big difference is that I used to have a group of friends that prayed together and were working to live a more spiritual life.
As humans, we are so influenced by the people around us, especially our friends. Sadly, our general culture in the West, has become materialist and anti-God. It is a constant battle for me to resist the influence of the general culture.
I find that when I read the Scriptures, I am inspired by them and have a greater desire to pray.
If you are a Christian or Jewish, Psalm 1 is inspirational and tells what the advantages are for a person who regularly reads God's Word. Reading the Scriptures is a very powerful form of prayer, especially if read slowly and repetitively, placing youself in the presence of God while you are reading.
There is so much I could say, there are books that attempt to answer your question.
Lastly, I believe it was Thomas Merton that said that the desire to pray is itself a prayer. I know that he said that, "Don't pray as you can't, pray as you can.". I have prayed and asked God to give you the grace to pray more and to grow closer to God. Please do the same for me.

Answer 2

I to am lazy when it comes to my praying, some days I do pretty good, but I talk more to God than I pray, am not sure if anyone would consider it prayer, I do real good at just talking to Him like He was right there and I could see Him type, but unless I get a real burden to pray then I am in prayer till the burden is lifted..I do pray every night though before I go to sleep, you can never tell whats gonna happen, so I do pray everynight to ask for forgiveness, and I know I should be more into praying than I am but i am not so your not the only one who goes through this..Try just talking to Him, after a while you may just realize that your doing it more and more..

Answer 3

I made it a routine, to pray at least two times a day. I just feel so grateful for all the blessings in my life that praying is the very least I can do to thank God for it.
Also, it gives me confort to talk to Him and share my worries, so far from an obligation, it is an actual pleasure. Besides, there are so many people in need. I do believe we can make a difference in the world through prayer, so it feels great being able to help someone else at least with your heart.

I would suggest you to start praying on "dead times", for example, while you are driving and do nothing else except maybe listening to the radio. That way it will become a routine, and then you can move on to praying at night before going to bed or when you wake up.
God bless you

Answer 4

If you are Muslim is different cause you have to accomplish certain rules in the other 3 big religions to pray is a very different Method where you don't need to be so formal, is like a son speaking with the father, this kind of relation helps you a lot to motivate yourself to be with God all day and in every place, to speak with him and to enjoy him in a very different dimension, not like this God that want you to have so much rules but as a friend that you are trying to know and understand.

We don't HAVE to pray, we HAVE to be good people.

Answer 5

Something very important that you might be missing is possibly illustrated when you use the word "required." If you pray because it is a responsibility, motivation will be hard. I pray because I have a relationship with God and I want to talk to Him. I'm not perfect, and often I don't talk to Him as much as He would like to hear from me or as much as I should to help nourish the relationship, but that should be the driving motivation behind a prayer life.

Answer 6

It's easy, I pray 5 times daily and each prayer only takes around 10 minutes. It is one of the 5 pillars of my religion so I know I must pray unless I have a valid reason not to.

Answer 7

Honestly I don't pray as much as I should. It's such a privilege. Thank you for reminding me I need to do it more often. But I do pray during the day, as things come up. Not for an extended time, but for certain things that happen; i.e., my boss was having a hard time with another attorney on the phone, they were being difficult, so I prayed God would work the situation out that both sides would come out of it okay.

It's nice, during my day, to have things come up I can pray about. Here's an idea; ask God's spirit to prompt you to pray about things!

Answer 8

Prayer isn't a requirement. It's just a way to help you reach out to God. How else would you ask God for help? Heck, sometimes, I'll just talk to God. I won't pray. Just picture Moses, Adam, even Jesus, just saying "Lord, You see my problems down here, how about some of your guidance and forgiveness."

Answer 9

I just do it....I really don't need any motivation...your not lazy, but maybe just too stressed out...Prayer should be just a conversation between you and God...don't make it any harder than that...relax and it will eventually come to you my friend.

Answer 10

Personally with me, I'm "motivated" to talk to God the same way I'm "motivated" to talk with my family and my friends. But I know that with everyone it's different. When you want to remember something do you write on you hand or tie a string around your finger? Try whatever usually works with you when you need to remember something important.