Prayerless Praying

     "Prayerless praying lacks the essential element of true praying; it is not based on desire, and it is devoid of earnestness and faith. Desire burdens the chariot of prayer, and faith drives its wheels. Prayerless praying has no burden, because it has no sense of need; no ardency, because it has none of the vision, strength, or glow of faith.
     Prayerless praying stakes nothing on the issue, for it has nothing to stake. It comes with empty hands, indeed, but they are listless hands, as well as empty. They have never learned the lesson of empty hands clinging to the Cross; this lesson, to them, has no form of comeliness.
     Prayerless praying has no heart in its praying. The lack of heart deprives praying of its reality, and makes it an empty and unfit vessel. Heart, soul, life must be in our praying...
     Prayerless praying is insincere. It has no honesty at heart. We name in words what we do not want in heart. Our prayers give formal untterance to the things for which our hearts are not only not hungry, but for which they really have no taste.
     Prayerless praying, it prays for humility, but nurtures pride; prays for self-denial, while indulging the flesh. Nothing exceeds true praying in its gracious results; but it is better not to pray at all than to pray prayerless prayers, for they are but sinning, and the worst of sinning is to sin on our knees.
     The prayer habit is a good habit, but prayer done only by force of habit is a very bad habit."

(taken from Purpose in Prayer by: E.M. Bounds)