Those nagging voices that stop me praying

When you pray, what resistance do you experience?

Recently I've begun to notice and analyse what inhibits me or even deters me from praying. I've become aware that when I sit down to pray, I immediately feel as if I'm answerable to all those people from past and present who have told me how I 'should' pray. It's almost as if the room becomes crowded with advisors and critics.

"So, you're here." says the first, "And about time too. I thought you said you were going to pray after breakfast, and now it's almost nine o'clock. May I remind you that you should pray first thing in the morning."
"Yes" says the second. "I also notice you didn't pray at all yesterday. Don't you know that as a mature Christian you should pray every day."
"I did pray, several times," I say. "I just didn't sit down to pray in a methodical way."
"Hhmph. Sounds like excuses to me" they say in unison.

"Well," says the third, "Aren't you going to confess your sins first. You can't just bowl up to God like that, without a bit of self-inspection first. And what about praise? Aren't you going to praise him?"
"Stop! You haven't read anything from scripture! Aren't you going to read scripture first?" says the first voice.
So I pick up my Bible and read for a while. As I'm reading, I remember a friend who is in trouble and start to pray for her.
"Hang on. You still haven't confessed your sins, or praised God yet" the voices cry.

"And what about praying for God's kingdom to come. What sort of Christian are you, that you don't have God's kingdom at the forefront of your mind?" That's the pastor of a church I used to attend.
"Yes, not to mention the church, and the missionaries you promised to pray for. You've got to get your priorities right." I recognise that 'voice' as belonging to the author of a certain book I read once.

And so it goes. I'd really love to talk to God about the things that are on my mind at the moment. But the list of things I 'ought' to pray about is thrust in front of me. If I try to answer back, I feel as if I'm making excuses for myself. The truth is, I don't pray for God's kingdom or the church or missionaries, or other peoples problems nearly enough. But part of the reason for that is that I just don't pray enough. The Accuser uses my inner critics to see to that.