Wednesdays Far to Go: Prayer

You know, I never understood what St. Paul and what Billy Graham meant when they said, "Pray without ceasing." How could anyone do that? Pray, pray, pray--and how do we continue to do that? It wasn't until I was much older that this became more of a state of being. It is how I approach every moment of life and what comes to mind . 

We could literally pray every waking moment because there are so many things in our lives that need God. Isn't that what we need--God? Not just for needs, but for praise and just talking to Him as a friend. As I age, I find a desire to be with the LORD throughout my waking moments. I could understand, at last, why some folks want to enter a monastery in order to devote to prayer. His Holiness Benedict XVI, the Emeritus Pope, vowed that he would devote his waking moments to prayer and I feel a great relief and yes, an admiration that he said he would do this. 

I still feel I'm at a stage where I am like the disciples with Jesus in Gethsemane--I'm failing when He has asked me to stay with Him to pray to the Father throughout the night. I get tired, discouraged and I often don't understand what or why something happens. Many times I have fallen to the floor asking God why, and asking Him to please understand my pain and to please just hold me. To understand that which I couldn't sort out and to take my tears and groans and make sense of them. 

I don't know what you are going through, but if you ask me to pray, I can present you to our LORD. A very wise woman whom mentored me when I was a young woman discussion leader in a very large Bible study once told me to pray for the women in my charge until they left. She said I needed to let them go if they wished and unless God specifically put that person on my heart, to pray one last time and then put them into God's hands. It's a good place to be and I needed to trust Him with that. After all, God loves that person much more than I ever could. I can't take God's place--I can only pray that God would see that person's heart and need. 

Anyway, I will be learning about prayer for the rest of my life. People have written whole books about prayer and the spiritual life, and there will always be something new to understand about it. We just need to keep the faith, no matter what comes across our paths and to "consider it joy." 

What are your thoughts when you go to prayer?