Just this week two friends expressed the desire to be more prayerful which inspired some random thoughts on prayer…

 A quick glance at social media and you’ll see all kinds of requests and promises for prayers. It is really astonishing at how quickly you can post a need and have a response. It sure beats the old prayer chain of calling person A who then calls B who in turn calls C. Wonderful if everyone is actually praying….

Have you ever prayed not expecting an answer, but prayed anyway? Guilty. Or prayed so long for someone/something that it turns into a habit without any real expectation? Guilty. Promised someone you would pray for them and didn’t? Guilty. Or prayed for a change that you weren’t really committed to? You know, the commonly prayed help me lose weight but please just let it fall off because I am not really committed to do anything differently. Huh, guilty. Was my words empty, my faith weak or is it really just too difficult to pray correctly…

I remember the first time spiritually mature me prayed for God’s will in a situation. Someone close to me died. That was not how I wanted my prayer answered and my spiritual maturity was revealed to be an illusion. I had prayed for God’s will because that is what I was supposed to pray. I learned that my heart wasn’t quite there yet. It was a tough lesson that took awhile to recover from…

Praying should be the easiest thing we ever do. Like most things spiritual we make it complicated. We want a recipe to confirm we are doing it right. If it doesn’t come out correctly we assume something went wrong. For years I had an old unfortunate oven. Every time I tried to bake something it turned out unpleasant. I almost gave up on baking…

Frequently our long prayed prayers change. We begin to see things differently. Our words cease to focus inward. They begin to look outward and eventually up. I am ever amazed at how prayers involving physical heaping hot coals evolves into a prayer for spiritual salvation. This is the Holy Spirit at His finest. When our hearts change and our situation has not. When it happens so quietly that we can’t pinpoint exactly when the transition occurred…

I have lately experienced much answered prayer. My health is stable. My work is a joy. I can say that life is good. That is when my prayers get more focused on worship and praise. I will always have needs. Always concerns. My heart just has time to reflect and meditate on my Lord. We are called to pray continually. That is a lifestyle I would love to live…

No one this week told me they were praying too much and needed to cut back. Or that they have developed a bad prayer habit and must stop cold turkey. Never have I been asked to participate in a prayer intervention or had to avoid a situation where too much prayer was going on. Like my friends I desire more…

In Faith, Deanna