Whether you’re a new believer or have been a Christian your entire life, you’ve probably been confronted by a frustrating incapability to be faithful in prayer. Why is it so hard? Like Paul in his struggle with sin, we wonder why we want to pray but just can’t seem to carry it out the way we know we should.

We often forget to pray even when we’ve told a friend, “I’ll be sure to pray about that for you.” When we do, it’s not unusual for us to last a short time before thoughts and worries creep in and distract. We’re painfully aware that we are not “praying enough.” Drawing near in daily conversation with our heavenly Father is hard.

In his book A Praying Life (2009), Paul Miller says that “our natural desire to pray comes from Creation. We are made in the image of God. Our inability to pray comes from the Fall. Evil has marred the image.” But our Father loves us too much to let our relationship with Him go. Join with thousands of Anchor readers this month as we seek to understand and enter into prayer more than ever.