When DO You Pray?

"The LORD has heard my cry for mercy;
the LORD accepts my prayer." Psalm 6:9

"pray continually;" 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Prayer is so important. I think as Christians we always know that we need to pray and spend time with God. But how often do we actually do? How often do we actually set aside that time...or find ourselves with a few extra minutes and we decide to spend it praying. I know that hardly ever happens for me. My mumbled prayer most mornings as I crawl out of bed is along the lines of "Thank you Lord for the coffee waiting downstairs, and thank you for the coming summer break." I do frequently spend time praying at night. I don't fall asleep easily, I never have. So one of the things I do at night as I'm lying there not sleeping is pray. I'll get a good several minutes in with God before the snoozing takes over.

Other times I pray are throughout the day. I pray when I do dishes. I have no idea where that first came from, but since when I do the dishes, I am always left alone by the entire family, that's when I pray every day. On those days I do several loads of dishes- you can tell I get more prayer time in. I also pray in the shower. Andy and I have a running joke that I do my best thinking in the shower. I frequently come out of the shower with a brainstorm or other great idea. Other places where I find myself praying is as I'm sitting in my van waiting for Abigail to come out of school. I also find myself praying often as I'm out walking. This started a few years ago when we did a prayer walk for church. For several weeks, we would get together and walk as a church, praying for our community. It was amazing how things would jump out at you about a particular house. You'd see the broken toys in the back, and the beer bottles on the curb, and you'd say a prayer for the kids in that house. So I find myself praying a lot as I walk.

I also find myself praying more and more prayers of thanks as things happen. The last few times I've pushed Zander on the swing, I've been thanking God earnestly for spring. A week or two ago as I planted my tomato seeds, I thanked God for the miracle of plants. This morning I'm planning more seed planting...I can assure you there will be several words of thanks heading heaven's way.

The point is, you can pray any way that suits you best, but it's important to pray. If you find yourself not praying at all, maybe you're the type of person who needs a structured prayer time. A specific time of day perhaps. As for myself, I prefer to pray all day long. In that way, I keep God at my side and at the forefront of my mind. As things come up, I pray. It's just like having a conversation with a friend, only I bet if I spent all day, every day with a friend, that I would get sick of that friend, and they with me. The beauty is that God will never tire of me and my ramblings. He will always be there for me to talk to, and sometimes, if I am quiet and ready to listen, God talks back, or puts a thought in my mind just for me. Those are the most precious times to me.

Prayer can happen anytime and anywhere. The important thing is that it's time to start talking.

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express." Romans 8:26