It's Not Easy, But It Is Simple

As someone who is involved in a lot of youth ministry, it often falls on me to lead group prayer at the beginning or the end of a meeting. A lot of the time, another leader will take on the responsibility of leading prayer as well. Yes yes, for events, we always strive to have planned prayer services, but at meetings sometimes there isn't time. And so it falls on someone to just go for it and pray 'on the cuff.' And here's the thing about prayer - especially public prayer - we so badly want it to sound good or pretty. We desperately don't want it to be repetitive, but grandiose and intricate. We want it to somehow be worthy of elevation as a part of the mystical body of Christ, joining the swirling clouds of incense as it makes its way up from the altar to the ears of God. We're more worried about what other people are thinking when they hear our words, than the actual words we say, and whether we mean them. But it isn't necessary for prayer to be poetry. Let's check in with my good friend The Little Flower, and see what she has to say:

"Prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look towards heaven. It is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy." -St. Therese of Lisieux

The Summer Slump

It's summer time! That beautiful time of the year when the sun stays out until 9pm, and we don't have to spend days stuck in a classroom. That time of year when we reconnect with friends who study abroad, have BBQs late into the night, and have drinks for "only a dollar, all summer." That time of year when we perhaps sleep in, laze around, go out at night, come home really late, fall into bed, fall asleep, and not pray.

Hold on a second, that didn't sound right.

Always

It's been a pretty average day. You woke up, maybe gave God a little "Good morning!", had some breakfast, took a shower, and went about your day. Maybe you went to work, or hung out with some friends. Maybe you needed a day to yourself and just curled up with a good book and some homemade cookies. You had some dinner in the evening, maybe hung out with some friends again, and are now ready to go to sleep. You crawl into your bed. Maybe you're feeling really connected to God right now and you say some very sincere, meaningful, perhaps lengthy prayers as you thank Him for your day. Maybe you're in a rut at the moment and just acknowledge that He had something to do with something nice that happened; you give Him a tip of the hat. Maybe you in a sticky situation, and you take a few minutes to ask Him for some help. Maybe you're just tired, but either way, you eventually feel like you've done what you needed to do and drift off to sleep. 

Such is prayer life for many of us. Life is crazy, and we always seem to be running around within the noise. Sometimes, we just "don't have the time."