Was just reading a great article by Connie Rossini entitled, Praying Always and Set Times of Prayer, and she pointed out the fact that many people will substitute the idea of “praying always” (off and on throughout the day) in lieu of establishing a habit of daily mental prayer.
Connie makes an accurate observation here, but her article caused me to reflect upon WHY this normally happens, as well as what is the ONE thing that we can do to change this situation in our lives forever.
First, the why.
It’s actually fairly simple, LIFE.
Although simple, the reasons can be as diverse as each person. Everything from work responsibilities, caring for children and family members, school, business travel, household chores, errands, volunteering at the local food pantry, financial worries, emotional crises, and a myriad of other joys, sorrows, and challenges can lead us to be distracted from actually putting first things first–that daily personal time with our Lord in mental prayer.
It’s the ultimate of Catch-22s.
Because we get SO wrapped up in all of our stuff, we forget that God has it all covered, and the reason we don’t know that God has it all covered is because we are neglecting to spend time with Him every day.
So what’s the ONE thing we can do to begin praying every day and change this situation forever?
It, too, is simple.
Start.
Resolve that you are going to spend time in quiet mental prayer tomorrow.
And then, do it.
(If you are a Star Wars fan, it may help if you cue Emperor Palpatine’s voice in your head as you tell yourself, “Do it”! LOL)
But seriously, we can’t begin to attempt to establish a habit of praying every day if we don’t start by trying to pray for one day.
Just like we can’t pray always if we aren’t praying every day to begin with.
So, make a commitment to “do it” and pray for one day. And then pray the next. And the next. And soon you’ll have a whole string of days on which you have prayed every day.
But what do you do if you fail? (Like I occasionally do when I forget what is most important?)
Then do it again. And then again. And then again. And again. (You get the point.)
Just do it again until you are praying every day, and eventually, with God’s grace, it will become always.
Because it’s not about being perfect. It’s simply about striving to be (and do) your best for “our Highest with your utmost.”
Now go do it.
