Praying - anytime, anywhere, about anything

I believe it is God's desire for us to communicate with Him. Communicating with God verbally or in our thoughts is called prayer. His Word encourages us to talk to Him "without ceasing", and "at all times".

                                             I Thessalonians 5:17 "Pray without ceasing." 

Ephesians 6:18 "Praying at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication to that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints."

I have charge of the Preschoolers in our church.  I can't imagine serving anywhere else. Preschoolers are so much fun and they learn through movement. Anyone with a 4 or 5-year-old, knows they love to move - A LOT!!  and practically all the time.  Anyway, one of the things we teach them when we are learning about prayer is that we can talk to God anytime (we point to our wrist, aka wristwatch) anywhere (we move our hands to each side of our body at about shoulder height) about anything (we reach our hands to the sky). This, of course, is a simple way to teach kids about talking to God and they totally get it.

But, as adults, prayer needs to go deeper still. Every occurrence, every occasion, every circumstance, every decision we need to make can become a stirring of the Holy Spirit within us to pray.  Prayer needs to become a habit. So much a part of ourselves that it is as frequent and natural as breathing.

I have read a book called The Practice of the Presence of God several times over the years. This book changed my thinking on prayer. The cover of the book invites us to read the spiritual secrets of a humble brother who enjoyed closeness with God.  Brother Lawrence was a Carmelite monk whose sole purpose in life was to remain always in the presence of God - no matter the task, no matter his circumstance - anytime, anywhere, anything!

In his 7th letter to an unnamed friend, Brother Lawrence wrote, "The least little remembrance will always be acceptable to Him. (God) You need not cry very loud; He is nearer to us than we are aware of."  God is always available - just a thought or even a whisper away.

The book goes on to talk about S. Clement of Alexandria. He was a gifted teacher of new Christians in the church at Jerusalem.  I can easily identify with Clement on several levels. You might want to look him up and read about his life. It is quite interesting.  Back to topic...around 190 A.D. Clement wrote the "Stromata" in which he described a man that might be very much like Brother Lawrence. He wrote, "the great business of a philosopher, that is, a wise Christian, is prayer. Such an one prays in every place, at every time, not indeed using many words, or thinking to be heard for his much speaking, but in secret in the depths of his soul, while walking or conversing with his fellow-man, or reading, at the table, when at work. His praises rise to God unceasingly; not only in the morning, and at noon, but in all his actions he glorifies God as do the Seraphim."  Anytime, anywhere, about anything!  Unceasingly in thought, word and deed!  

These types of prayers are called breath prayers; they are short, simple, heartfelt, meaningful, spontaneous, important and valuable. Examples might be when you are watching your child quietly play - you speak a blessing over your child, or pray for their future. When you see a beautiful flower, thank God for the gift of nature. When someone you know comes to mind, ask God to give them the desires of their heart. Short, simple prayers that keep us communicating with God, and in His presence all the time.  Breath prayers can be prayers of praise, worship, love, needs, thanksgiving, blessing, help and so on and so on. Anytime, anywhere about anything! 

Today might be a good day to begin practicing breath prayers and perhaps, like Brother Lawrence, they will become a habit in us leading us to remain always in the presence of God.  I pray it is so!

Breathe in - "Father", breathe out - "draw near to the persons reading this blog today."  

There are many good articles on Breath Prayer. Following is a link to just one.

Guideposts article on Breath Prayers

Be Prepared

Time and time again, scripture tells us how the Israelite people of the old testament rejected God's ways and followed their own.  And over and over, God gave them chance after chance to get it right.
After Solomon finished having the house of the Lord built, he dedicated the temple to the Lord praising God and pleading for God to hear his prayer on behalf of the people.  In answer to Solomon's prayer, beginning at 2 Chronicles 7:12 we read,  "Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him, "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, ..." The next verse, verse 14 is the second or third or fourth chance God gives them.  It says "...if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."  (There are so many 'if" 'then' statements in scripture!)

What I read in the words of verse 14 is, 'if I (God) have a people that know Me and trust Me and obey Me, then, there is no limit to the times I will forgive them and do great things for them.'  Now let's make those words more personal. Go ahead hear these words as if God were speaking them to you. Take them to heart.  'If you know Me and trust Me and obey Me, then, there is no limit to what I will do for you and no limit to what I can do through you for all things are possible with Me in your court.'   (See Philippians 4:13)

Know Me. Trust Me. Obey Me. A tall order for sure. For in our humanness you and I want control. We want what we want, our way, in our time, as we planned.  Guess what? That's not knowing and trusting that God has our back. That's not being obedient to what He wants. Don't shoot the messenger on this, I just call 'em like I see 'em and it is humbling.

You and I need to relinquish control and know that God's ways are not our ways. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55: 8 & 9  If we are asking God for direction or clarity in a matter, we need to be prepared to step outside our comfort zone and do things His way. Remember His ways are higher, better and maybe harder.  And that's a good thing! We can't wait twiddling our thumbs for an answer hoping to hear God tell us to do it our way. No! God will challenge us. A challenge needs trust. A challenge needs obedience. A challenge forces us to look at who we know God is. I believe that is what God wants from us.

Recently, I prayed and prayed and prayed for an answer to a matter. I just wasn't hearing from God. (I thought.) I finally realized I was waiting to hear Him tell me to do what I wanted to do. To do what I thought was right. But I learned, the hard way, that what I thought, was not what He thought. He wanted to do something way better. And I missed out on that and am suffering the consequences.  I didn't come to Him asking for what He wanted, I was praying for what I thought He might want.  There is a huge difference. Now, I am in the same boat as the Israelites and must go to Him humbly asking forgiveness and praying that He will heal my land. In other words, fix my mess.

When we count on what we know of God, when we trust Him and obey Him, His ways will challenge us to do more, to be better, to live righter (Is that a word?). His ways, His methods, His purposes - so, be prepared - for 'if' we do this, 'then' He promises great and mighty things.

"So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:11