Jackson Five easy.

 A grateful heart is a beginning of greatness. It is an expression of humility. It is a foundation for the development of such virtues as prayer, faith, courage, contentment, happiness, love and well-being. –James E. Faust 


It happens to everyone, Sometimes it feels like prayer just ain’t happenin’, no matter how badly our heart yearns to pray.

Maybe our brains feel all jumbled up, a Word Search where the letters are all scattered every which way. All the news lately may feel like an assault, and this is the result.

Maybe our lives are just so busy we haven’t time to think things through the way we’d like.

Maybe—maybe we never really thought about what it means to pray, so we have some crazy expectation of ourselves.

Truth is, prayer is exactly whatever we believe and expect it to be. And it’s also true that sometimes, we need guidance. Help.

This week, I offer you something different. (At first, it might sound like it will take more time than you have to give. Try it, anyway, and see how it goes.)

Try praying through the alphabet, a few letters at a time.

Maybe you simply want to drop a name, or a situation. God gets that. Maybe starting with the ABCs will get you unstuck.

I’ll start. God, today I pray for Afghanistan . . . Broken hearts . . . Children . . . Debbie . . . Environment. . . .


Monday Start the week praying for those closest to you by name. If you get stuck at a letter, pause and move on. God will fill in the blanks. Proverbs 22:1-2

Tuesday Draw the circle wider. Pray by name for people who you may not know, but see every day, or pray by what their vocation is (artists . . . bus boys . . .). Psalm 125

Wednesday Today, pray for situations that arise in your heart. Pray over the hump. Isaiah 35:4-7

Thursday Pray for leaders: in your church, in your community, in the nation. Psalm 146

Friday As the weekend closes in, pray for people whose jobs are challenged as the pandemic refuses to give us a break. James 2:1-10

Saturday Pray for the families and friends of lives lost twenty years ago today when the Twin Towers fell, and for first responders in your life. James 2;14-17

Sunday Pick one letter and pray for the things your heart longs to experience. Proverbs 22:8-9; 22-23

 

In my deepest, darkest moments, what really got me through was prayer. Sometimes my prayer we “Help me.” Sometimes a prayer was “Thank you.” What I’ve discovered is that intimate connection and communication with my Creator will always get me through because I know my support, my help, is just a prayer away. –Iyanla Vanzant

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Stepping back. . . .

Image
Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and with a calm spirit.  Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever,  even if your whole world seems upset.  –St. Francis de Sales This week, I invite you to simply sit in a quiet space with words of hope and promise, and to remember, as Julian of Norwich knew, that all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well . It has been a long, difficult season. Advent and the coming of the Christ is just around the corner. Peace and comfort to your spirit. Monday   “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.” Matthew 11:28-30 Tuesday  “Is this not the kind of fast I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?” Isaiah 58:6-9 Wednesday  “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the
Read more

It's that time again. . . .

When the seasons shift, even the subtle beginning, the scent of a promised changed, I feel something stir inside me. Hopefulness? Gratitude? Openness?  Whatever it is,  it’s welcome. –Kristin Armstrong No matter what part of the world you call home, this time of year brings big changes. While my friends Down Under are watching sings of new growth emerge from the earth as temperatures rise, here in Ohio, the leaves are turning from green to gold and orange, red and brown. The winds have taken on a chill; clouds hang heavy, like soggy cotton, reminding us that soon and very soon, we are going to see the snow . Always different, yet somehow, the same. We depend on God’s eternal ways, and trust that again this year, winter will follow autumn, just like it should. So why is it, as we anticipate and appreciate changes like these, when it comes to so many things in life we pull up short, wrinkle our noses and say No! No change! I like things just the way they are! It’s t
Read more

Starting again

“This, then, is how you should pray:" --Matthew 6:9a I have been really sensing lately that there is another blog inside me, one focused on prayer.  Oh, I know-- those elephants are all about prayer. Heck, they  are  prayer. And I will continue there, as well. But what I've been feeling is that people-- maybe you--  have always been told, "You should pray," or "Pray about that." But maybe you feel your prayers aren't "good enough," or that it's just too hard, too embarrassing, too [fill in the blank] to pray. Maybe it feels like no one really talks about how  to pray-- except, of course, for Jesus, in Matthew 6 and a couple parallel passages where we are given what's come to be known as The Lord's Prayer. And it is a great prayer. And there are other great prayers, and other ways to pray that do not involve rote. So "my plan" here is to share, hopefully on a weekly or semi-regular basis, a lot of
Read more