There are days when prayer feels like slipping into warm sunlight—peaceful, steady, natural. And then there are days when prayer feels like dragging a stubborn shopping cart through a parking lot pothole. No matter how hard you push, it just won’t move.
If you’ve been in that kind of season lately, you’re not alone. Every saint—yes, even the ones who wrote shelves of mystical theology—knew what it felt like for prayer to become difficult, dull, or strangely empty. Dryness in prayer doesn’t mean you’re doing something wrong. More often, it means God is inviting you deeper, even when He feels quieter.
Here are a few practical ways to keep going when love feels dry.
1. Stop Trying to “Produce” Prayer
One of the easiest traps to fall into is thinking prayer depends on our performance—our focus, our emotions, or our ability to generate a sense of connection. But prayer is not a project; it’s a relationship.
Jacques Philippe, in Time for God, reminds us that God does the heavy lifting in prayer. Our job is simply to show up with a willing heart. Even if all you can offer God on a given day is your tiredness or distraction, offer it. It’s enough.
When you stop trying to manufacture “holy feelings,” you make space for God to act.
2. Keep Showing Up Even in Small, Imperfect Ways
When prayer feels dry, consistency matters more than intensity.
If your usual 20 minutes of mental prayer feels impossible, try five. If silence feels too heavy, start with Scripture or a spiritual book. If sitting feels unproductive, take a walk and talk to God as honestly as you can. God isn’t grading you—He’s walking with you.
Fr. Michel Esparza, in Is Jesus Still Suffering?, writes beautifully about how our small acts of love console the Heart of Jesus. Even offering Him a few minutes of distracted, imperfect prayer has value. Love is still love, even when it feels weak.
3. Bring Your Honesty to God
Dryness can make us feel like we have to “fix ourselves” before going to God. But that’s the moment to be the most honest.
Tell Him you’re bored. Tell Him you’re empty. Tell Him you’re discouraged. Tell Him you’re showing up because you love Him, even if you don’t feel that love right now.
Prayer becomes much lighter when you let God meet you where you actually are, not where you wish you were.
4. Anchor Yourself in Something Concrete
Sometimes a simple anchor can steady you through a dry spell.
Try:
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reading a short passage from a spiritual classic,
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meditating on one Gospel scene,
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repeating a single aspiration (“Lord, you know I love you”).
Books like Time for God or Is Jesus Still Suffering? can act like a companion—someone walking with you, reminding you that dryness is normal and that God is closer than you think.
5. Remember: Love Isn’t a Feeling
God often works most deeply in the quiet, hidden seasons. When prayer is dry, your faithfulness is more meaningful than you realize. Staying with Him in dryness becomes its own quiet gift—one that consoles His Heart and strengthens yours.
A Little Encouragement for the Journey
If you want companions for this season, both Time for God and Is Jesus Still Suffering? offer wisdom that can steady your prayer life and renew your trust in God's presence—especially when it feels faint.
And from now until 11/23, you can pick them up during our Early Bird Sale:
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GIFT10 — $10 off $50+
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GIFT20 — $20 off $75+
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GIFT30 — $30 off $100+
Sometimes the smallest step—a single page, a few minutes of quiet—is enough to help you keep going. And that’s all God asks: not perfection, but presence.
