January 29, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . Prayer

“I choose now to pause.”

I have a number of prayer apps on my phone.  Some are Roman Catholic based and some are Episcopal based.  A couple of them have an audio option, while most of them require you to read through the prayers.  These apps are especially helpful when I don’t have a Prayer Book with me, since the Daily Offices are right there on my phone.  They are also helpful for those times I just want to sit and listen to someone else read through the Office.

I was talking with someone the other day about prayer.  A variety of things came up in that conversation, but there were two things that stuck out in my mind.  The first is that God is not a vending machine and our prayers are not the quarters that we insert.  And the second is that prayer, more than anything else, is the conversation you have with God – it works to deepen your knowledge and love of God while also providing time for you to listen to God.

Those, of course, are very basic ideas about prayer, and we could (should?) spend much more time delving into the topic and practice.

Another thing about prayer that I think is important is that it is intentional.  I hear people tell me all the time that they pray in their car on their way to work, or they pray in the shower, or they pray while they are making dinner, or whenever.  I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, because I have done them all at one time or another.  But how much more meaningful are our conversations when we aren’t distracted by traffic, or time constraints, or boiling water?

When you pray, make it a practice to be intentional.  When you pray, create space in your day to invite God to be with you.  When you pray, make sure God is your priority in that moment.

When you pray, choose a time to pause.

Blessings,