Battling for more reward

For the past few days I have tried and tried to go to Qiyam prayers.

On the first night, while I was at Taraweeh prayers, the Imam, man who leads the prayers, said the special late night prayers, Qiyam, would start at 1.30am that night. So I made sure I was at the mosque at that time to gain my reward.

A novice to Qiyam prayers in the mosque, I have only once performed them in there, choosing to pray at home instead, I was shocked to find that the prayers at this particular mosque go on for two hours.

This wouldn't normally be a problem except that they start at 1.30am and go on to 3.30am.

I found it difficult to keep my concentration levels for the entire prayer and as time progressed, I was slowly feeling drowsy and unable to pay sufficient attention.

Disappointed with myself, I left after an hour of prayers with my tail between my legs.

The next day, I decided to go to another mosque. This time I knew it performed hour-long prayers only. However, for me the Imam's voice was monotone and again I was battling sleep the entire time.

Again, I left early unhappy with myself.

Since then I have been unable to attend Qiyam prayers at the mosque. I do, however, plan to try out a third mosque this evening and hope it's third time lucky for me!

What I've learnt from all this is that though there are more rewards in congregational prayer, there is a price to pay for them.

Qiyam prayers aren't as easy as getting up and praying like usual, concentrating at a time that you have trained your body to shut down and sleep is very difficult.

The battle is not over once the prayers are, because after a short nap I had to be up for morning prayers. Then a couple of hours later it's back to work, exhausted!

No wonder the rewards during these nights are immense. Let's hope God accepts our prayers.