When Prayer Is a Struggle: A Practical Guide for Overcoming Obstacles in Prayer

by Kevin P. Halloran

If you struggle to pray, be encouraged—God wants to help you!

Writing as a sympathetic guide, Kevin Halloran shows how gospel truths speak to your prayer struggles, diagnoses issues of the heart that hinder true prayer, and gives practical tips for moving forward. Pinpoint areas of weakness in your prayer life—from distraction and disorganization to guilt and anxiety—and take immediate steps to overcome them.

Genres: Prayer, Christian, Faith, Theology, Christian Living, Christian Non Fiction

160 pages, Paperback

Published August 25, 2021

Reviews

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whose prayer life is what they want it to be? Mine certainly isn’t what I hope it would be. How do we improve our prayer lives? This is the question that Kevin Halloran tackles in his practical book, “When Prayer is a Struggle.”
Halloran invites us to experience the life God longs for us to have with him. Halloran reminds us that our prayer life and our faith are connected. He says, “Prayer is the natural overflow of a growing faith.” We don’t pray as we ought because we struggle with our faith.
Halloran encourages us to lean into our prayer life with God not trying to get it “right,” but to engage God and grow our faith. I love the quote from Jared Wilson he pulls, “You may think your prayers are nothing to write home about. That’s fine. You are not writing home, but heaven. God is merciful. He accepts your lame prayers. What he wants is not your eloquence but your heart.”
Halloran wants us to utilize the Bible in our prayer life. Scripture ought to feed our prayer life. It gives us words to say to God when we don’t know what to say, it directs us to God’s heart, when we feel distant from him.
My favorite chapter is probably Chapter 4 where Halloran engages the question, “Why doesn’t God listen?” He navigates these challenging but important answers to that question: “You aren’t a Christian.” “You lack faith.” “You turned your back on God and his word by embracing a sin.” “You’ve treated others wrongly.” “You are prideful.” “You are experiencing God’s discipline.” “You treated others wrongly.” “You are prideful.” “You are experiencing God’s discipline.”
Halloran then calls us to consider the posture of our heart. A prideful heart is a heart averse to prayer. There is a direct line between our humility and our prayer life. Humility plus prayer also release us from the stresses of this world. He says, “As you humble yourself before your loving Father this way, the tangled mess of your anxiety will begin to unravel.”
I love the last few chapters which offer very practical helps for distraction or not knowing what to pray. I’ve downloaded the PrayerMate app because of Halloran’s note that this is what he uses to keep himself on track in his prayer life and have benefited from it.
I want a better prayer life. Don’t you? If so, I commend “When Prayer is a Struggle” to you.

I was given a free copy of this book by the publisher with a request for an honest review.

For more reviews see thebeehive.live.

[Kali · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is filled with immensely practical tips and suggestions. I listened to it but it would be a helpful book to own and look over all the ideas as you try them in your personal prayer life.

[Nicholas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Minister, author, and blogger Kevin Halloran has written an eminently helpful and encouraging book on how to handle the most common difficulties with prayer. He covers prayer problems such as being at a loss of what to pray, being hindered by guilt or shame, unable to focus, being too stressed or too busy. Halloran writes on nine of the most common obstacles to prayer reported by laymen and clergy alike as a fellow struggling pray-er so that the reader does not feel either belittled or unusual for needing assistance in developing a healthy and consistent prayer life.

The author begins the book by demonstrating through Scripture why prayer is essential, and the benefits to every believer for persevering through the difficulties often found in praying to God in any kind of meaningful and fulfilling manner. Readers will probably recognize themselves in more than just one of the difficulty areas described and are encouraged to skip around if they wish. Each of the chapters provides doable action plans that are thankfully not very complicated. At the back of the book, Halloran offers a listing of psalms to pray grouped by topic and verses to find the prayers of the Apostle Paul. Finally, he lists many recommended books for those who want to go deeper into the subject of prayer. This is one of the most practical and approachable books on prayer I have read. I highly recommend it!

[Jorge Rivera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Orar a veces pesa. Nos distraemos, nos gana el cansancio o simplemente no sabemos qué decir. Este libro de Kevin Halloran te recuerda que esa lucha no es derrota, es parte del camino de seguir a Jesús. Con ejemplos claros y consejos prácticos, te ayuda a volver a hablar con Dios con libertad y confianza. Es un respiro para cualquiera que quiere orar más, pero siente que no puede.

[Noel Ardoin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t recommend this book enough! This book had the most tangible steps for success I think i’ve ever read. I loved it!

[Aria Greendyk · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a very helpful, practical, Biblical guide to tackling different issues in prayer. I think most Christians would say that their prayer life isn't exactly as they'd like it to be, and this book breaks down 9 common areas of difficulty in prayer, then systematically goes through how to address them. He's short and to the point, but without missing important information. I would recommend it to any Christian who's ever thought, "man, I wish my prayer life was better...but I don't know where to start."

My top takeaways:
- Prayer shouldn't be legalistic, but we also shouldn't ignore the fact that some practical tools could help a LOT and increase our desire and ability to pray consistently. The goal is faithfulness, and help in praying.
- Imagine the long term effects of consistent, God-honoring, Christ-centered prayer: people being saved, your will being aligned with God's, every prayer for spiritual growth and the needs of others being answered. It's not at all guaranteed that the answer to every prayer will be "yes," but God promises to use our prayers. Pray in faith.
- Prayer ultimately is an act of surrender to the Lord, and is primarily focused on relationship with God. Therefore, it's not always about what you say (although that matters too, and should be centered on God's Word), but more about the heart you say it with, and having a true desire to communicate with God in that relationship.

[John R. (Jack) Hager · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helpful

Tremendously helpful. Lots of footnotes pointing to other resources. I am confident my reading and implementing ideas in this book will greatly enhance my prayer life

[Kevin Halloran]

I’m thankful P&R translated my humble attempt to encourage believers into Spanish.

I plan to post some excerpts and related articles onto my Spanish blog ancladoencristo.org for those interested.

[Nicole Telaneus · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short and very practical book to help the believer overcome common obstacles to prayer. This book was very helpful and refreshing because it was so practical and didn’t take a deep dive into every issue. I appreciated that a lot and I will refer back to this often!

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent strategies for helping to build a more satisfying and powerful prayer life. Very practical advice.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super helpful! Addressed lots of topics. I especially appreciated the appendix with Psalms relating to times to pray.

[Nick Prodromou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book, very encouraging in tone, and full of practical helps. Gentle but also firm.

[Laura Eder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe you've read a lot of books on prayer and are wondering why you need to bother reading another one. Well, Kevin Halloran has read those books too and it's clear he didn't set out to regurgitate the best of what's already out there. Instead, he has been used by the Lord to produce a very practical and helpful guide to remove the common obstacles we all experience for praying effectively. This book is a terrific tool to be used on your own or with a group. Whether you're distracted, unorganized, poorly motivated, super busy or skeptical about prayer - you will find wise biblical counsel here for growing in this crucial relational act with God!

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

If your prayer life is on life support, you need to read this book.
Prayer breathes life into your our souls.
Check your prayer pulse, and get back to the fundamentals, as Kevin will guide you right where you need to be.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

How can we pray in our busy and messy lives? In When Prayer is a Struggle, Kevin P. Halloran provides a practical guide for overcoming obstacles in prayer.

Guide and Shape Your Prayers

Distraction is one common obstacle, and this book gives 13 tips to help you keep focused. Harnessing the power of routine, praying while walking, singing, and setting a timer has proved useful to me. Holloran is encouraging, telling his readers to not give up on prayer.

This book also presents 5 paths to help you guide and shape your prayers: (1) Learn to pray from Scriptural prayers, (2) pray as you read the Bible, (3) follow the Lord’s prayer, (4) follow the ACTS pattern, and (5) pray written prayers. These tips help keep you grounded and God-centered.

Scriptural Priorities

Interestingly, Halloran says that we should pray with scriptural priorities. This includes praying for ourselves, friends and family, governmental officials, our enemies, all people, the local church, and the global church. We see that praying for all kinds of people is important if we really believe that God answers our prayers.

What I found most helpful were the chapters on battling sinful anxiety through prayer and leading a busy-but-praying life. I’m learning to pray alongside believers from the past and I hope to practice “habit-stacking” and employ shorter, faith-filled prayers.

Christ Can Overcome

While this book is thoroughly practical, it is also unapologetically Biblical. Major points are based in Scripture, and cross-references are used generously. There is even an appendix with select prayers from Scripture. This is a book to reference and return to again and again.

This book acknowledges that our lives can be busy. And it understands that our lives are sometimes messy. In actuality, these are reasons why we need to pray more. While prayer can sometimes be a struggle, it is simply another obstacle that Christ can overcome.

I received a media copy of When Prayer is a Struggle and this is my honest review.

[Jeremy Gardiner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just checked off a book from my 2022 Gospel eBooks reading challenge. It was a monthly themed challenge for May (for the National Day of Prayer) where I read "a book about prayer or faster."

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There was nothing wrong with this book, it just wasn't what I was looking for. It's nine chapters long, each one dealing with a different objection to prayer (can't focus, too busy, too stressed, mixed motives, too guilty etc.).

I felt like the topics were more geared towards new believers and felt a bit basic. It's not that I had nothing to learn, but just that my struggles are different than the topics covered. In hindsight, I thought more about what I was looking for, and the answer I came up with is wanting to hear more about the bigness of God, the privilege of prayer, and stories of prayer making a real difference.

It was only an okay read and I feel like the newer a person is to the faith, the more helpful this particular book would be. As for me, next time I'm going to read some Leonard Ravenhill, as that's what I feel like I actually needed.

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book from the recommendation of one of the pastors where I attend church. I am so glad I did! It wasn’t until the beginning of this year where I started taking prayer seriously. At the same time I was starting to take my faith seriously, also. Prayer was something I knew needed work. It’s been a day to day growth but still needed more guidance in so many ways regarding prayer. I feel this book has been a means for me to have better guidance for my prayer life. I will be sure to refer often to its pages

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

I heard an interview with this author on the B.A.R. Podcast. This book on prayer is ridiculously simple!!! And super helpful! Especially the chapters on distraction and anxiety because both of those are huge issues for me and absolutely have a detrimental effect on my prayer life. I really enjoyed this book!

[Jonathan Pait · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is good to read a book on prayer regularly. This is one I would certainly recommend in that rotation. This is not because it offers some obviously different than the others, or offers the magic bullet for your prayer life. It is helpful as it pulls from some of those other sources, offers various helps that fit personalities, and above all puts the focus on scripture.

[Sherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not all of us will be called and equipped to be prayer warriors; however, all Christians are commanded to pray. This book can provide those of us who find prayer to be difficult with some tools to help us overcome some of the challenges we face in obeying and pleasing our Father during our times spent with Him in prayer.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, practical thoughts on different problems we face with prayer (lack of focus, too busy, feelings of guilt, etc.) with some theological analysis as well. Short and easy to read one chapter at a time.

[Tamara Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

A simple read. Very practical. Great resource for new Christians, high schoolers, people who don’t like to pray out loud or struggle at prayer in general.
I learned some things myself that I’d like to try in my own prayer life.

[K.J. Soze · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kevin always writes great content. I have been following him for a few years.

This book offers a very practical approach for praying when you don't feel like it.

[K.C. Ellson · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an encouraging and practical help for Christians who know they should pray, want to pray, but seem to struggle. I can't recommend this book enough.

[Elisabeth Perkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay this book literally helped me out so much. My prayer life is basically nonexistent at this point but thankfully I also took notes while reading and let's just say, I'm definitely using some of the tactics Kevin talked about. This book was absolutely worth it.

[Tina Wiebe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Actually helped my prayer life