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How to Pray When You're Too Tired to Pray · Daily Devotions for Busy Lives

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  Bart Leger: Charlotte Elliott had been sick for so long, she'd
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  almost forgotten what a strong day felt like. For years, her
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  body had run on empty, and getting out of bed was its own
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  battle. On this particular day, the whole family was out doing
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  something good. Her brother, a minister, was raising money for
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  a school, and everyone had gone to help, everyone but Charlotte.
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  She was too weak to come, left at home while the people she
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  loved did the work. Lying there alone, an old accusation crept
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  back in. She was useless, a burden to everyone.
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  she figured God had no use for her either. We'll come back to
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  what she did from that bed, but
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  first, welcome to Daily Devotions for Busy Lives. I'm
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  Bart Leger. There are nights I start praying in bed and never
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  finish the sentence. I'll be partway through telling God
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  about something that happened during the day, or somebody in
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  the church that needs help, and the next thing I know, the alarm
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  in the morning is going off. For years, that bothered me more
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  than it should have. I'd wake up feeling like I'd stood God up,
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  like the one part of the day that mattered most was the part
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  I couldn't stay awake for. And I'm a pastor. If anybody ought
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  to be able to hold a conversation with God at the end
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  of a long day, you'd think it would be me. Some nights, I just
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  can't. Maybe you know that feeling. The day finally winds
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  down and you've got nothing left.
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  And you start to wonder if there's something wrong with
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  your faith. Usually, the answer's simpler than you think.
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  You're worn out. Jesus ran into that exact situation with his
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  closest friends. And he cut them a bit of slack, but he was
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  pretty direct. It was the night before the cross. He took Peter
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  and two of the other disciples deeper in the garden of
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  Gethsemane and asked them to stay awake and pray with him. He
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  came back and found them asleep. He had asked for one thing on
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  the worst night of his life, and they couldn't even stay awake
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  for it. Listen to what he said to them in Matthew 26, 41. Keep
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  watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For
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  the spirit is willing, but the body is weak. Jesus looked at
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  grown men who couldn't keep their eyes open for him, and he
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  put his finger on the right cause. The spirit was willing,
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  but the flesh had run out of gas. He gave them the diagnosis. He
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  knew what tired felt like. This is the same Jesus who preached
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  and healed until he slept so deeply in a boat that his
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  disciples had to shake him awake in the middle of a storm. he'd
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  eaten the last meal with his friends, and he was hours away
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  from the cross. When he talks about a weak body, he's talking
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  about something he had lived himself. So here's what I want
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  you to think about tonight. Prayer, when you're wiped out,
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  can be short and sweet, and God still hears every word of it. It
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  can be one line, God, I'm here, or God help me. That's a prayer,
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  and he receives it the same way he receives the long, polished
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  ones. Some of the best praying that you'll ever do will be
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  short and direct. Think about the prayers in Scripture that
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  got answered really fast. Peter, sinking in the water, managed
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  three words. Charlotte remembered something, and all he
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  got out was God be merciful to me, a sinner. Nobody scored
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  those prayers for length. Charlotte remembered something a
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  preacher had told her years before, back when she first came
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  to Christ. She had asked him how someone like her could come to
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  God, and he said she had nothing worth bringing anyway. She could
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  only come just as she was, so that's what she did. Too tired
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  to do anything else, she reached for pen and paper and wrote it
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  down as a prayer, Just as I am, without one plea. She had no
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  strength to offer and no good deed to point to, just herself
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  and her need. That poem became a hymn, Just as I am, and it has
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  drawn more people to God than she could have ever helped at
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  any fundraiser. Look at what Charlotte had to work with that
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  afternoon. No strength, nothing to bring. She wrote one line of
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  a prayer from her bed, and God did more with it than he would
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  have done with a full day of her running errands for the school.
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  God has a long habit of using people who come to him with
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  nothing left for themselves. Here's today's challenge.
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  Tonight, when you get into bed and you're too tired to pray,
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  don't skip it and don't apologize for it. Just say the
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  one line to God that you can manage. God, I'm here. That's
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  the whole prayer. If you fall asleep before you finish, then
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  you've fallen asleep talking with the Father, and that's a
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  good way to end the day. Father, thank you that you know what
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  tired feels like. You made these bodies, and you know exactly how
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  much they can take before they give out. For everyone listening
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  who gets to the end of the day with nothing left, receive the
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  small prayers. Take the half sentence and the one line
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  whispered in the dark. Remind them that you aren't measuring
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  their words or grading their effort. Give them rest and let
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  them wake up knowing you never left the room. In Jesus' name,
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  amen. This podcast runs on the generosity of listeners just
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  like you. If Daily Devotions for Busy Lives has encouraged you,
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  would you consider supporting it with a one-time gift or becoming
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  a monthly supporter? Every contribution helps keep these
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  devotions coming every day of the week. You can give at
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  dailydevotionsforbusylives.com slash support. Thank you so much,
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  and thanks for joining me on Daily Devotions for Busy Lives.
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  Remember, a tired prayer is still a prayer. Say your one
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  line tonight. Let God handle the rest of it while you sleep. Come
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  back next time for more encouragement to help you live
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  grounded in God's truth. Until then, God bless, and have a
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  great day.