“Lord, I’m Tired. Amen.” That’s the caption on the most popular cartoon I ever produced. It has been clipped and pinned to bulletin boards in many places. Apparently, I’m not the only one who sometimes feels too tired to pray.

So, how does one pray when he’s tired?

The very question presupposes that we are going to pray each day and even at a specific time. Otherwise, if a person has no time and place to pray, when he/she is tired, the thought of praying never enters their minds. They come home fatigued and drop into bed without a thought of needing to pray.

The short answer to the question is to bear in mind that the Father sees our tiredness and understands the limits on our spirituality at that moment. He knows. He understands. And He’s okay by it.

We must forever do away with the image of the Heavenly Father sitting over us with a stopwatch or a clipboard to gauge the number of minutes we spend in prayer or the intensity with which we commune with Him.

“He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.” (Psalm 103:14)

The Lord is under no illusion about you and me. He knows us better than we do ourselves. Even though we sometimes struggle with perfectionism, that is one fault He is not guilty of concerning us! While we rebuke ourselves for not giving perfect attention in worship, perfect devotion in prayer, or perfect service in our works, He doesn’t. He has never expected perfection from us, but only our best.

I can hear someone protesting, “What about the Bible telling us to ‘be perfect even as your Father in Heaven is perfect’?” That’s Matthew 5:48. Answer: Perfection is always God’s standard — check the Ten Commandments if you doubt this — but it’s not His expectation.

A football coach’s standard is for the team to move downfield every time they get the ball and score a touchdown. But he knows it’s not going to happen. Nevertheless, that’s always in his mind, that “this time, they’ll score.” At no point does a coach say to himself, “If they don’t score in this quarter, it’s all right.”

The sales manager’s standard is for a sale to result from every call his agent makes. But it’s not his expectation.

The standards of Heaven are never lowered because of our weaknesses or limitations or our sinfulness. God does not grade on the curve. And yet, that’s part of the beauty of His plan. The Law (i.e., His perfect standard) was given to humble us, show us our failure, and to drive us to our knees in submission and commitment. See Galatians 3:24.

So, back to praying when we are tired. How should we do it?

This is only my suggestion, but here it is: “Thank you, Jesus.”

That’s it.

Thank you, Jesus. Three words.

If you are like me, you’ll probably end up repeating that several times.

Lawrence Bryant taught me to pray like that. This spiritual giant of a layman came to Christ as a 43 year old businessman and never got over the Lord’s mercy and grace to have redeemed a sinner like himself. Sometimes he and I would pray in my office or in his car after an evening of prospect visitation. The enduring memory I have of his prayers is this:

“Thank you, Lord…..Oh, thank you, Jesus…..Thank you….Lord, I’ll never be able to thank you enough for what you have done for me….(longer pause)…thank you, Jesus.”

The discovery I made after many years of living — involving a lot more sinning and much more forgiveness from the Master — is that only one who knows the depth of his own depravity and who stands in awe of the quality of the Lord’s mercy in forgiving him can pray such a prayer. To anyone else, it seems silly and trite.

“Thank you, Jesus” involves three dimensions.

Thank you for what you have done in the past.

Thank you for what you are doing in the present.

Thank you for what you will do in the future.

Telling the Lord “thank you” implies several things….

–an acceptance of His will.

–a belief that God is in charge.

–confidence that He can use whatever happened for His glory.

–a commitment to go forward with whatever is next on the Lord’s agenda.

–my mind is not on myself and my failures, but on the Lord’s presence, plan, and provisions.

“It’s not about me; it’s about you, Jesus.”

I have to keep telling myself that and I’ll bet you do, too.

It’s a worthy reminder. So, go ahead — tell Him “thank you, Jesus.” He knows He’s in charge but He likes it when we give a sign of getting the point too.