PRAYER

I haven't done a true thoughtful post in awhile. Hopefully, this will qualify as one. Prayer is a mysterious thing to say the least. It is clear we are told to pray to the Father, and I suppose I just have a few thoughts about that from things I've considered over the past couple of years.

WHY?
I guess the short answer could legitimately be, "I don't know." However, there are some reasons that come to mind. First, it teaches us to live a life that is aware of our dependence on God. If we don't pray, it seems easier to fall into that silly illusion that I am responsible for the blessings I see around me. This reminds me of a quote from C.S. Lewis in his book Problem of Pain, "A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word 'darkness' on the walls of his cell." This is the kind of insanity and fundamental disconnectedness that we can fall into if we do not take the time to pray. Another reason I have seen in my own life is that praying for people helps me to remember their needs and care about them as three dimensional individuals more instead of the cardboard cutout relationship of saying hi/bye to our more casual relationships with people. Our prayer brings their reality as hurting people to the forefront of our minds, and this can help us to learn to deal with people more mercifully and lovingly. Finally, it could be that we simply cause the hand of Almighty God to move when He otherwise would not have.

A FEW THINGS THAT HAVE HELPED ME

1. A prayer list
-I was resistant to this for the longest time, but I cannot tell you how many little ways this has helped me to grow.....well, I could but then you would not have the joy of discovering that for yourself :) Just start making a list of people and stuff that you would like to pray for on a consistent basis and allow God to bring new things to your mind that you can add to the list. Then develop a faithful practice of praying for all on the list. It feels a little forced at first, but I promise that over time AS YOU GROW FAITHFUL IN DOING IT, God will open your eyes to positive fruits from it that you never would have thought of.

2. Start/End the day with praise and prayer
As early as you can begin thinking of it, develop a habit of "bookending" your day with saying a word of thanks, praise, and request to God. You will be surprised how this can set the tone for your entire day.

3. Develop a time of day for meditating/listening.
Begin by picking a time that you should be able to have a certain amount of uninterrupted and mentally alert time and then pray that God will open your eyes to the Scriptures. This can obviously go hand in hand with some time spent reading your Bible, but doesn't have to be back to back. I know God can show us things through people, nature, situations, etc. also, but I specifically point to the Scriptures here because I think we all need to gain a new passion for meditating on them and Lord knows He can open our eyes to Himself through them. One word about this practice that I have noticed over the years. Disciplining yourself to be a meditator/listener(a disciplined desirer to hear from God) has rewards that can be missed if you limit it to "hearing from God" only in the time frame that you have devoted to meditate. Many times I have spent time thinking about some specific scripture and haven't gotten anything out of it, but then later that day or week, I will see something remarkably clearly out of nowhere when I'm not focused in on Him or the Bible. I have noticed that when I am disciplined to meditate, I have these moments far more often than when I lapse into not disciplining myself to meditate on Him and His word.

Finally, a verse that I have incorporated into a prayer. Job 36:10, "You open their ears to discipline." I ask my Father to bring reminders to my mind to do these practices....not feelings to do them or give me the desire to do them, but simply reminders and then, by His grace, I develop the disciplines that will lead me deeper into abandoning myself to Him fully.