Prayer Struggles

If any of you struggle with prayer (or maybe you don't but you "have a friend who does"), you might find some help in reading an article by David Powlison called "Praying Beyond the Sick List." Here is a representative excerpt:

"It's hard to learn how to pray - for the sick as well as the healthy. How often do we make intelligent, honest requests for something we need from capable, trustworthy friends? Prayer is a lot like that. But somehow when the making of a request is termed "praying" and the capable party is termed "God," things tend to get tangled. You've seen it, heard it, done it: the contorted syntax, formulaic phrasing, meaningless repetition, 'just reallys,' vague non-requests, artificially pious tone of voice, air of confusion. If you talked to your friends or parents that way they'd think you'd lost your mind. But what if your understanding of prayer changes, and if your practice of prayer then changes? What then? What if the prayer requests you make - and the ones you ask others
to make - change?"

By the way, whenever I've struggled in prayer, I've found that it is usually fruitful for me to ask myself, "Why am I finding it hard to pray right now?" That helps me identify the deeper issue and address it in light of the cross of Christ.