Sacred Journal.org

When you obey God, you are literally denying yourself. Putting His will above yours. To heed the voice of the Lord Jesus is a great sacrifice, more painful than any physical wound if i must say.

1 Samuel 15:22-23.. to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry...

The Lord Jesus delights in our Obedience. While others are out there doing what the flesh wants, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and you are there rejecting yourself and praying, reading your Bible and drawing nearer to the Father...
Do you Remember what the demons did to the sons of Sceva when they tried to cast them out using the name of Jesus?

Acts 19:15-16
And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?”
Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

You cannot prevail against witchcraft, demonic bondages, against principalities if you are good at praying and you're unwilling to obey the voice of the Lord your God. Here is what the Bible says concerning those who are good at praying but are unwilling to obey

Proverbs 28:9
One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, Even his prayer is an abomination.

Matthew 15:8
‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.

No one enjoys it at 1st but eventually it becomes a part of you, a part of your life when you draw nearer to the Father, maturing in Your faith and depending on Him entirely

Proverbs 28:9 talks about people who know God, they know His ways but they just prefer not to obey, it doesn't speak about a new Christian who is struggling to overcome sin, No! It's this old Christians who think they know it all and they use prayer to silence their conscious, it's different with a new Christian, the Lord Jesus deals with them until their heart is fully subject to the will of God.