Part Three: Who Has Time to Pray
by Wendy Elizabeth Middleton
Pray continually 1 Thessalonians 5:17
Bow your head, close your eyes, clasp your hands together, and get on your knees before God. This is the classical attitude of prayer and what most of us think of when we think of prayer. But is it – really? Rather than trying to find a few minutes to stop and pray to God, perhaps we should try praying to God without stopping.
We don’t have to wedge God into our very busy schedules; He is already there. God is omnipresent. He is everywhere all at once, which means He is with you wherever you are. Once you fully recognize God in every situation it becomes a matter of course to talk to Him all along the way. Don’t stop to pray, pray without stopping.
The classical attitude of prayer is an attitude of reverence; we bow before God as we bow before a king. It is an attitude of respect. Eyes closed and hands clasped is an effort to limit distractions from our prayers. But it is not at all necessary to kneel, in order to pray. In fact we are called to pray without ceasing. That would be really hard to do if we were always and only on our knees.
In order to pray without ceasing we must learn to pray during the distractions and frustrations of the daily grind. Which means that most of our prayer life does not take place out loud. Prayer should be a silent, ongoing conversation with God.
If you view prayer as a conversation, then what do you talk about?
Start with the distractions and frustrations of the day.
“I’ve got a lot on my plate today, Father. Please help me keep calm and focused on the task at hand and push the thousand other things I need to do out of the way for the moment.”
“Wow! Did you see that stack of cans fall over? Thank you that no one was hurt and please keep us safe today,”
“Sally was crying in the bathroom. I don’t know what the problem is, but please wrap her in your loving arms and comfort her. And if I can help in any way please help me to see it.”
“Argghhh! This bloody thing just will not work. Father please!” – deep breath - Lay it all out again - Begin at the beginning. “Father there is a way to do this. I’m missing a step somewhere. Please help me to figure this out, sometime this century.”
You will be surprised at the amount of calm that comes from prayers like these. You should never wait until the sky is crashing down around you to turn to God in prayer. Before long, instead of being made crazy by a demanding boss, you will find yourself praying for that boss and calmly trying to accomplish the umpteenth impossible thing that the boss has suddenly demanded that you do. Or calmly undoing everything one boss told you to do because that boss’ boss wants it done differently.
Better still, once you leave work, the frustrations do not follow you home. Make supper, and before you turn the TV on, thank God for a wonderful day.
Also don’t forget to appreciate the bounty of God’s blessing and the wonder works of God.
“Oh look! A butterfly. Two butterflies. And there goes a bee. Great I haven’t seen a bee in a while. I hope this means they are making a comeback from their hive illness. We need the bees they are great pollinators. But then You know that. You thought of everything.”
Life is truly better with prayer. So instead of trying to stop and pray, pray without out stopping.
What does prayer mean to you?
Simple – Ain’t – Easy
But it sure is worth the effort
- Wendy
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