Life Apps - part 3 (Prayer)

I am so tired by the time I get into bed at night that my traditional time of talking to God is pretty much worthless. I usually fall asleep somewhere around the opener of "God, thank you for...." It is pretty pathetic - especially for someone who is a pastor.

I know people who get up at 5:45am in order to have time to pray and listen to God, but that doesn't work for me either. So I have had to resort to some sneaky ways to carve out time to talk to God. One way I do it is to randomly send up prayers whenever I think of something. They aren't long and involved - just little short thoughts on things I am thankful for or things that I need to ask God to help me or someone else with - and I do this all day long. Another way I find prayer time is by using the times in my schedule that I have carved out for me. I am pretty diligent about my exercise schedule and if I listen to the contemporary Christian music I have on my iPod, then it reminds me to spend part of that exercise time talking to God and thinking about what He might be wanting me to do with my life and time.

I don't think it is great that I have to remind myself to talk to God, but I do think for many of us, that is just how it is. We have so many other things in our life to distract us from what is important that we have to give ourselve reminders to pull us back to the core of what matters.

Lucky for us, God is ready to listen to us at any time. I know he would love to have a 2 hour chat with us everyday but most of us aren't that disciplined and focused. So start small if you don't talk to him everday - give him 1-2 minutes of your time a couple times a day when you can actually focus on God. Gradually, figure out what times in your daily routine can be carved out as times for you to talk to God. The time you are getting ready in the morning? The 10-15 minutes during the day that you take a break and just sit? The commute to or from work? There are times in our schedule that we can all dedicate to God simply by choosing to turn off the news or put down our phone or iPad or by decided to talk to God instead of mulling over other things of the day to ourselves.

If you don't listen to Christian music, I also encourage you to find some that you like (iTunes has lot and you can also get a soundbyte before you buy) or listen to Contemporary Christian music on the radio or via the internet. It makes a huge difference in the day to a lot of people by refocusing their thoughts on God instead of the world.

And remember - God is always ready to listen.

CS

"pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." - 1 Thessolonians 5: 17-18