So many ways to pray. Pray without ceasing. How can one pray without ceasing? Every thought in my head goes to the Lord. Everything around me, everything that happens. It’s like breathing, you don’t think about it, you just do it. Yet it hasn’t always been that way. And still, sometimes when I find myself feeling sorry for myself, or cranky, or complaining, I realize that I’ve not had the Lord at the front of my mind. I don’t always remember to pray before I eat or before I go to bed. But, I’m constantly in prayer, giving thanks for each day, the beauty of nature, the ability to breath. Sometimes I need to get on my knees and focus on a specific prayer. Many times I write my prayers in my journals. I love these prayers best because I have a record of them and it’s fun to see how God answers.

While in rehab, my roommate would often talk to herself, I thought. Then one night I heard her  naming her family and friends. She ended with, “and me, I just need to be taken care of.” How precious is that prayer?

Once, when I was teaching our daughter about prayer, she said that she felt selfish praying. I think it’s our attitude behind our prayers that can be selfish. Are we praying for our own wants, or to be what God wants us to be? Praise, scripture prayer, praying for others, these prayers are ways to pray unselfishly.

What do you use to enhance your prayer life?

“Rejoice ever more, pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18