Whether I would pray or not for many years depended on whether I managed to squeeze in a tiny moment here or there. “On a whim” might be a good expression to use. Heavy laden to-do lists definitely took more of a priority when I planned my day’s activities.
My first realization of the presence of God in my life was in 3rd grade, at around 10 years of age. My first true commitment to making prayer a priority in my life came over 25 years later. Why the gap? I’m still not sure I know the answer to that question. I do know it was a gap that aggravated me no end, but for all my aggravation I never really took the necessary steps to rectify it. I would pray here and there, now and then, when there was time, when there was a crisis.
It wasn’t until a man stood up at a church meeting and confessed that he had finally given himself over to allowing God to help him do better with his own prayer life that I made a commitment to figuring out my own. I really admired this man for the humble stance he took of standing up there and saying “I’m still trying to figure it out.” It made me feel like I was getting permission to go ahead and try, even mess up, but at least make that commitment to try. And to know that I didn’t have to do it alone, if I asked Him, God would help me.
I decided to start on a slow track. If I could say one small phrase to God every day, what would it be? “I love you. Thank You. Help me.” Surely, I had the time for that! And because of my nature, I had to think of some kind of daily memory trigger to remind me and I decided to do it after I dropped the kids off at school and whenever I saw a dragonfly (I know, random…more on that story next week).
And God took this little tiny prayer offering and helped me develop it into a prayer life that enriched and changed me. God will take whatever small offerings we lift up to Him and expand them in ways we would never imagine possible. Do I still mess up and forget to pray? Oh, yes. Do I think there are many areas of my prayer life that need improving? Absolutely. In a lifetime of “whether forecasts,” my prayer life may be as unpredictable as the real weather. But I rest in the comfort of knowing that He and I are working on this together.
“God is my hiding place from the tyranny of the urgent!”
~Barbara Johnson
“God wants to reveal himself to us, not so that we will have him figured out, but so that we will trust Him and develop a relationship with Him.”
~WAU
(I apologize for this weak reference – I’m on the hunt to find the actual book it was in).
My first realization of the presence of God in my life was in 3rd grade, at around 10 years of age. My first true commitment to making prayer a priority in my life came over 25 years later. Why the gap? I’m still not sure I know the answer to that question. I do know it was a gap that aggravated me no end, but for all my aggravation I never really took the necessary steps to rectify it. I would pray here and there, now and then, when there was time, when there was a crisis.
It wasn’t until a man stood up at a church meeting and confessed that he had finally given himself over to allowing God to help him do better with his own prayer life that I made a commitment to figuring out my own. I really admired this man for the humble stance he took of standing up there and saying “I’m still trying to figure it out.” It made me feel like I was getting permission to go ahead and try, even mess up, but at least make that commitment to try. And to know that I didn’t have to do it alone, if I asked Him, God would help me.
I decided to start on a slow track. If I could say one small phrase to God every day, what would it be? “I love you. Thank You. Help me.” Surely, I had the time for that! And because of my nature, I had to think of some kind of daily memory trigger to remind me and I decided to do it after I dropped the kids off at school and whenever I saw a dragonfly (I know, random…more on that story next week).
And God took this little tiny prayer offering and helped me develop it into a prayer life that enriched and changed me. God will take whatever small offerings we lift up to Him and expand them in ways we would never imagine possible. Do I still mess up and forget to pray? Oh, yes. Do I think there are many areas of my prayer life that need improving? Absolutely. In a lifetime of “whether forecasts,” my prayer life may be as unpredictable as the real weather. But I rest in the comfort of knowing that He and I are working on this together.
“God is my hiding place from the tyranny of the urgent!”
~Barbara Johnson
“God wants to reveal himself to us, not so that we will have him figured out, but so that we will trust Him and develop a relationship with Him.”
~WAU
(I apologize for this weak reference – I’m on the hunt to find the actual book it was in).
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