Ever Pray And Still Feel Empty? Here’s What’s Really Going On
TODAY'S TEACHING
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
—Isaiah 55:9
Sometimes we walk away from prayer feeling like something didn’t land, almost like we left the stove on or ended the conversation too soon. One Pastor used to say it was like taking a shower with your socks still on... we sense something is off. We poured out every concern we could think of, yet the emptiness hangs there. The truth is, we often spend so much time bringing our prayers that we never pause long enough to let God bring His.
I once knew a man named Trevor who prayed harder than anyone I’d ever met. He’d pace, whisper, talk loud, talk soft, and stay at it for nearly an hour, only to feel just as unsettled when he finished as when he started. But the moment he slowed down and asked the Holy Spirit what He wanted to pray, it was like someone opened a window in a stuffy room. The heaviness lifted in seconds.
That’s the surprising part. When we’re praying from our own minds, we can talk ourselves in circles and still feel unfinished, like trying to mop a floor with muddy boots on. But when the Spirit leads, the prayers tend to be simpler… shorter… cleaner. Direct and uncluttered, as if God cuts straight to the heart.
There’s a satisfaction that settles in when we pray His way instead of ours. Our flesh always wants to talk about circumstances, problems, and feelings. But the Spirit pushes us toward eternal things... motives, attitudes, purity of heart, wisdom, and a deeper relationship that lasts longer than any situation we’re worrying about.
If we let Him lead, we discover prayer isn’t supposed to drain us. It’s supposed to refresh us, steady us, pull us back into alignment. Ask God to teach you how to pray His prayers instead of your own, and something in your spirit will feel refreshed. His thoughts are higher, His angle is wiser… and His way will fill what your own words leave empty.
If this resonates with you, here's a short prayer you can say today:
"Dear God, teach me to lean into Your heart instead of getting lost in my own words. Help me sense the difference between praying from my mind and praying with Your Spirit guiding the way. Show me that prayer feels fuller and richer when I follow Your lead, not my own ideas. Draw me into a relationship where hearing You becomes natural and satisfying. Amen."
God bless you!
Your brother in Christ,
Daniel
DailyEffectivePrayer.org
P.S. - Thank you for allowing me to connect with you through email. If you ever want to UNSUBSCRIBE you can do so at the bottom of any of my emails - no questions asked. God bless you.
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DEVOTIONAL QUESTIONS
1. Are Christians jumping into prayer with our own plans instead of slowing down long enough to let God guide it?
A lot of us do this without even thinking about it. We come in hot, talking fast, pouring out everything we’ve been carrying, and we never stop to ask, “Lord, what are You trying to pray through me right now?” There is so much value in stopping and taking time to listen. Prayer is a two-way conversation. When we learn to pause, the Spirit usually steers things in a direction we weren’t aiming for, and that’s where the peace starts creeping back in.
2. Have we picked up the idea somewhere that long or emotional prayers automatically mean effective prayers?
Most of us grew up believing prayer had to feel intense or sound impressive to “count,” but that idea quietly wears us out (my YouTube prayer channel clearly shows that my shorter prayers get the most views). Some of the strongest moments in prayer come when the Spirit gives us just a few simple words that hit straight to the center of the issue. It’s funny how our long prayers can sometimes leave us empty, but His short ones somehow settle us (long prayers are fine, we simply need to use discernment that they're being spoken from a good place).
3. Are Believers mostly praying about what’s happening around us instead of what’s happening inside us?
It’s easy to camp out on circumstances because they’re loud and right in our face. But when the Spirit gets involved, He starts poking at things we’d never put on a prayer list... our motives, our reactions, our habits, the quiet stuff that shapes everything else. When our daily prayers start shifting inward like that, the emptiness usually fades because we’re finally dealing with what God’s been trying to talk about all along.
4. Is a Christian willing to let God interrupt them a little and take the conversation in another direction?
We like to feel in control, even in prayer. We plan what we’re going to say, who we’re praying for, and how long we’re going to take. But if we give God room to nudge us off our script, the pressure eases up and prayer stops feeling like a performance we’re supposed to ace.
5. Are we still letting God teach us how to pray, or have we quietly assumed we already know?
None of us graduates from learning prayer. Some seasons we feel confident, and then suddenly nothing works the way it used to... and that’s usually God pulling us into a different rhythm with Him. When we stay teachable, the Holy Spirit opens doors in prayer we didn’t even know were there, and things start to feel alive again.
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SCRIPTURE OF THE WEEK
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
—Jeremiah 29:11
