For lent this year I decided to commit fifteen minutes out
of every day to praying. This may not
seem like much but for me it was not easy.
The first time I was taught to pray I think I was too young to
understand the true meaning behind it.
But at the same time having the innocence and naiveté of a child was a
blessing when it came to learning how to pray.
As a young child I was taught that prayer is how we talk to God. Someone once said to me, “If you are ever
scared then pray to God and ask him to protect you.”
The first time I remember praying
because I was scared I was nine years old and my family had just moved to
Tulsa, OK. Now, in Oklahoma they have
these storms called tornados. My only recollection
of a tornado had been the one that swept up Dorothy’s house in The Wizard of Oz. One day in the middle of the afternoon my
Mom, brother, and I were at home. I
remember it being a beautiful sunny day when suddenly the sky turned as black
as night and the tornado sirens started to blare. We had no idea what these sirens were until
we turned on the TV and the local weatherman was telling people to seek
shelter. We ran into a bathroom in the
center of the house and huddled around a radio listening to the weather
updates. I remember my younger brother
started to cry. My mom grabbed both or
our hands and said “lets pray”. We
prayed the “Our Father” maybe half a dozen times. We asked God to protect us. That is my first memory of truly relying on
God.
Of course as a child I believed in
the power of prayer quite literally. As
I grew older and experienced more of life’s tragedies and cruelness I became
more and more jaded towards the concept of prayer. I would often find myself wondering, “Is God
really listening and does God really care about my trivial problems or even my
big problems? If he does then why
doesn’t he do anything about it when I ask?”
As I got even
older and I went away to college I found myself praying less and less. I thought to myself, “I’m doing just fine
without prayer so why should I even bother?”
Little did I understand the true meaning of prayer. If you are in a relationship that begins to
fall apart what is one of the first things that usually happens? The time that you spend talking usually
starts to dwindle. You may not be
completely honest with that person. In
fact that may be why the relationship begins to crumble. You may not trust this person like you once
did. You may have other things in your
life that are taking precedence over your relationship. What would you do if you wanted to fix your
relationship? You might sit down with
that person and tell them how you feel and try to be honest with them. The same is true for your relationship with
God.
If you
aren’t talking to God then how would you expect your relationship with him to
look? The difference between God and most
of the people in our life is that God is always there for us. He is always listening to you and he will
always love you no matter what you tell him.
You might ask, “If God already knows everything about us then why do I
need to bother talking to him.” It is
more for your own benefit rather than God’s benefit. By praying you are strengthening your
relationship with him. Are you thinking,
“I would pray more but I don’t know how to pray or what to pray for or whom to
pray for?” I often think back to my
rhetoric classes in college when I had trouble with knowing what to write
about. Professor Robbins would always
say “just write the first thing that comes to mind”. If you don’t know what to pray about then
just start talking. Have a conversation
with God. I promise he’ll listen.
I like to refer to prayer as an art
form. The saints were not born great at
praying but became great because they prayed a lot. And I mean A LOT. So the next time you’re feeling scared,
lonely, restless, or even if you’re just bored, instead of tuning into Facebook,
turning to Twitter, or flipping on the TV, try praying. Even if it’s just for a minute. You might be surprised at what happens.
