Day 20- Praying about cheese

I just have to share that I am really bad at praying. I try hard, I really do. I start off well thanking God for all of our blessings and then I start to pray for specific people and things, but as I do my mind always takes a right turn and I am suddenly daydreaming about something totally random. And, then I daydream for so long that I either fall asleep or get totally sidetracked and forget what exactly I was praying about in the first place. I actually laugh at how hard it is for me. So lately I have been trying to pray small prayers at a time. I have also kept a prayer journal for a little over a year. The prayer journal allows me to write down everything and everyone I want to pray for without distraction and I do this once a week. I have also started doing one prayer every few days that I only thank God for all of our blessings, even if I have other things to pray about at that moment. I just want to make sure I remember to tell him how thankful I am (before I fall asleep)!

Sometimes we give up when we realize we are not very good at something. Or we just keep doing it badly over and over because we don't know what else to do. But that's not good enough; we need to change what we are doing to make it work. In my case I know that being good at prayer is not going to happen overnight so I am going to make small changes that will help me be better at it. It has taken me 30 years to realize I need to try harder to be good at it! The power of prayer is very important and I don't want to forget to pray for you because I was daydreaming about buying a block of cheese at the store!

I actually started working on my prayer issue in 2009 when I read Refuel: An Uncomplicated Guide to Connecting with God by Doug Fields. It's a super easy, short read about how to spend time with God. That got me started. Like I have said before, I am a work in progress. If you are starting in your faith, have trouble remembering to pray or just get distracted like I do, I highly recommend a prayer journal. You can write in it daily or weekly and it will help focus your thoughts. We are all great at praying for something we need right away or when we are in crisis, but daily prayer really keeps you connected to God and humble to the needs of others.

Wishing you a wonderful day today!