Praying is right…
I recently titled a Sunday lesson Praying: More is Better.
When preparing it, I knew “better” needed clarification. My purpose was not, repeat not, to improve anyone’s praying skills. I believe all praying, any praying, and every prayer are perfect.
That lead me to title this posting Praying is right. Praying is right because it is. Always. All ways. Praying can’t be wrong. But this title’s tricky, too. That it is right to pray doesn’t mean it’s wrong not to. Thinking that way would create pressure and pressure creates fear and praying from fear cannot make praying feel right. Let’s have our praying feel right!
Praying is all right. All praying is right.
I often hear, “I’m afraid to pray.” Or “I don’t know how to pray.” Or “I don’t know what to say or when to say it when I try to pray.” Or “Praying is so hard. I might do it wrong, so it’s easier to just let it go.”
Hearing that surprises me less and less, but it concerns me still. Praying is right and praying is easy. I know the more I pray, the more I know better.
- I know better the joy of praying any way, any time, any place.
- I know better what praying brings to me, does for me, gives to me.
- I know better what I can give of myself to praying.
- I know better that praying is neither hard nor wrong-able nor scary.
I believe the more you pray, the more you can know better, too. More praying can help you release the fear of praying. More praying can let you know those “betters”.
And it’s easy when you know:
It’s great to pray any time. I love to pray when the situation gives me time: like when I’m sitting in traffic or standing in line at the supermarket. It’s a kick to pray when I take my first sip of coffee. Prayers said when I hear a child laugh or smell honeysuckle lift me all the way up. Try this assignment: I’ll pray 10 times today. Some of those times are likely to be out of your ordinary.
It’s great to pray any place. Running around our town lake last Saturday, I decided to say, Thank you, God, with each of my next 100 strides. It made the rest of the run so much more fun. I try to stretch my prayer-place limits. I pray swimming laps. I pray in especially noisy or crowded places: airports (not just for a safe flight!), sports events, Friday night restaurants (not just for speedy service!). How about this: today (and tomorrow) I will pray in 5 places where I’ve never prayed before….even if I have to go out of my way to some of those places!
It’s great to pray for any reason. This secret’s a biggie. We often assume things have to be pretty bad, pretty severe, pretty intense if we’re to pray about them. Close cousin to that is praying to ask for. As in ask for money, ask for love, ask for health. Good reasons to pray, yes. The only reasons? Certainly not! You’re praying when you say,
- God, what a beautiful day!
- I love you, God. You love me, God.
- I am blessed by ____.
- What else might be a prayer you’d say or you’ve said?
I want everyone to appreciate praying as an easy-to-do, no-risk guarantee activity. The more you pray, the better the chances you’ll experience that easy guarantee.
In: Affirmation, Happiness, Prayer, Spirituality · Tagged with: Affirmations, Prayer, praying
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