Prayer is one of God's most beautiful gifts to us: it enables us to reach out to Him in love - to call on the most powerful being in the universe for help and guidance. Through prayer we are able to establish a real relationship with with this incredible God who not only created literally everything but also took the time to make you. God desires relationship with us, and prayer is one of the best vehicles through which we can accomplish this. Prayer, however, can sometimes be this daunting thing that can seem more like a task than a privilege. That is because we often look at prayer the wrong way - it's not some obligation or duty that we have to just "grin and bear," any more than talking with our best friend would be considered a duty. Prayer is simply a loving conversation with God. But what do I say? Well, you can always go with the beautiful traditional prayers of the Church like the Hail Mary or Our Father (that is, the prayer that Jesus taught His disciples when they asked Him to teach them how to pray). Or you could simply sit and be in the presence of God (be still and know...). It is also possible to kinda "freestyle" your prayer, to pray from your heart and simply let God know what's on your mind. Prayer doesn't need to have a specific structure - but if you find yourself struggling for what to say, the acronym ACTS may help you. ACTS (Adoration, Contrition, Thanksgiving and Supplication) gives us four good starting points for things that we can talk to God about. These 4 ways of praying were actually learned when we were little: saying I love you, I'm sorry, thank you, and asking for things. That last one can sometimes feel like we're just taking advantage of God, but He actually tells us that it's not only ok to ask Him for stuff, (ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find...), but that it is a good thing to do.
My challenge to you this week is to take a moment (doesn't need to be long!) at the beginning of your day and give thanks to God for the day, ask Him to be with you throughout the day, and dedicate your thoughts words and actions to Him. It is also a good idea to end your day in prayer. =)
