We Should Pray When We Do Not Want To

One must force oneself to pray, even if one has no spiritual prayer.
In such a case, God, seeing that a man earnestly is striving, pushing himself against the will of his heart (that is, his thoughts), He grants him true prayer.

St. Macarius of Egypt (d.391) quoted by St. Theophan the Recluse


LAGNIAPPE
50 Spiritual Homilies of St. Macarius of Egypt 

I LOVE these homilies! They are very simple, but wonderful. St. Theophan wrote these four homilies for some nuns. I originally found them in a book, but I had some reservations about that book (see The Path of Prayer below in this list). Now I have found that the same homilies have been translated into English, and by an Orthodox priest! They have been published on an Orthodox web site. I have no concerns about "chaff" in the "wheat" here, and I heartily recommend these instead of the book, The Path of Prayer:
Theophan the Recluse, On prayer, Homily 1
Theophan the Recluse, On prayer, Homily 2
Theophan the Recluse, On prayer, Homily 3
Theophan the Recluse, On prayer, Homily 4

More books about or including St. Theophan.