I have often said that praying is
useful, but more than useful, I meant beneficial, rewarding. You pray—your life gets better. You don't pray—your life gets worse. If a person experiences this
cause-effect relationship, he will become afraid not to pray.
The question I raise today is,
"if a person forgets or neglects to pray, and consequently notices that
everything seems to be inexplicably going wrong, can the useful benefits of
praying be restored immediately upon resumption of the activity?"
My answer, based on experience, is
"yes". Even a
simple daily prayer, by rote, has the power to restore God's protective
presence to our conscious lives as soon as it is spoken. Having experienced this power today, I
listed the components of my daily prayer, which begin:
God,
1. Grant me the serenity to . . .
2. Grant me the knowledge of . . .
3. Grant me the willingness and
ability to . . .
4. Keep me humble.
5. Your will,not mine.
6. Forgive my sins.
7. Possess my mind and body and . . .
8. Be my glory.
9. Your will not mine.
10. Keep me humble
. . .
and things got better.
There have been times when even when you pray, life happens and not for the good. God does not shield us from the world and its problems.
ReplyDeletePrayer grounds us in a discipline that when we are tested, we can remember our disciplines and who is in control.
Restore immediately? Not sure. Comforted yes. Restored. hmmmmmm. Still pondering.
Thank you for your comment. It is the perfect complement to my post.
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