Prayer

On Ash Wednesday, March 5 I talked about being able to prayer anytime for example taking 5 minutes out of your lunch break. In our busy lives prayer is such a hard thing to find time for or at least we think it is. I always told myself I pray throughout the day so I don’t need a set time which a lot of us do. Then during Advent last year I thought I will stop watching the morning news and spend time in prayer instead. It worked and I am still doing it as we begin our Lenten journey.

I keep my Bible and whatever prayer resources I am using next to “my” chair and in the morning instead of turning on the TV I pick up one of the resources or my Bible and there I am ready to begin my day with prayer. Now I know that a lot of you have children and need to be present for them in the mornings and the evenings and anywhere in between so making the choice to forgo a morning news show has already been made right? So, take the time when you can grab it to pray that is what I did when I had children at home. Better yet involve them in the prayer time for when it becomes habit for them they will continue to pray as adults.

You might want to have a special prayer area that anyone in your family can pause by to say a quick prayer as they go about their day. If you do have a small table or even a spot on a shelf to use you can change it according to the seasons, during Lent you could have a small bowl of sand and a cross; or during Holy Week add a palm branch; or what wonderful reminders of Spring we have like pussy willows, tulips, Easter eggs etc. If you have a small piece of fabric as part of the prayer area you could change that according to the colors of the liturgical year taking you cue on that from how the church is decorated during each season.

And remember prayer is talking and listening to God so you don’t need to have a lot of prayer books to rely on, just taking a few minutes to catch God up on your day and thanking him for all of the blessing in your life or asking him to walk with you during a particularly difficult time is all you need to get started.