My Kind Of Praying

When I was younger, the verse in the Bible where we are encouraged to "pray without ceasing" seemed ridiculously impossible. I mean, come on! I was barely finding the time for a ten minute devotional. How on earth could I pray all the time, eyes closed, hands folded, heart turned toward God?

I had babies, and that ten minute devotional turned into a three minute one, and my prayer time was not quite as quiet or calm or even closed eyed (if I took my eyes off the oldest, he was in the bathroom tinkering with the toilet, and the youngest would be flushing things like underwear).

And that is when I figured out how to pray without ceasing. For me, prayers are like the air I breathe, the thoughts I think. It's a continuous flow all through my day, and sometimes into the night. Only sometimes though, cuz I have no trouble falling asleep and staying asleep!

Part of it is I do pray differently than other people I know. God knows what I want. God knows my hopes. God knows my needs. I don't tend to spell those things out for Him. He's already got it all under control. I pray for His Will and my Spirit to be in accord, I pray for strength in time of trouble and I spend a lot of time sending up thanks for this wonderful world He made and the nice spot I occupy in it.

I've been thinking about prayer more this last week as we get our daughter ready to fly to D.C. with a school trip. I'm excited for her and nervous and worried and thrilled and proud. It's a confusing mess of emotions. My prayer has simply been, "Be with her."

That covers everything and I am at ease.

She hasn't left yet, though. We'll see how 'at ease' I am when the plane is leaving. My prayer might change to, "Be with us."

That's the nice thing about God, though. I know He will be.