Have you said your prayers today?
I must admit that I have stumbled with this; not so much as saying a prayer but just stepping aside from all distractions and sitting down quietly with God and really talking and opening my heart to him. I stumble with this.
I do, pray all the time, otherwise. Throughout the day I’m saying prayers for people that I know. Something will remind of them or my thoughts will suddenly turn in their direction and I just start praying for them. For instance, if I see the color purple, my friend Sarah likes purple, so do my niece’s. So at that moment I say a prayer for them to let them know that no matter what, the Lord is near and ready to provide their every need. Or if I see a certain item that I know someone collects like: roosters, sunflowers, owls, geese, strawberries, spoons, dogs, motorcycles, or whatever it may be. Then I ask God to watch over them and protect them. It’s just something that I do and have always done. My struggle though, like I mentioned before, is with spending the much needed time alone with God and praying. That’s beginning to all change though…
Isabel is getting us to pray as a family more. Whenever we sit down to eat, whether it be for a meal or snack, she folds her hands and gets our attention! Hey, it’s time to pray! She’s getting really good at it!
At bed time, I was reading simple prayers to her from little prayer bibles and books that she has. Because I had wanted to plant the seed in her mind that prayer is an important thing. Now though, I have found that I can really pray with her without the books. She bows her head and folds her hands and we’ll spend several minutes together praying.
So it seems fitting on this national day of prayer, I should take some time and really step away from all the distractions and really thank God for the truly amazing daughter he placed in our care!
“Prayer is when you talk to God; meditation is when you listen to God.”
– Author unknown