Make prayer a habitSample

I remember my grandmother always had her Bible lying on the kitchen table together with a prayer book and a crossword. Sometimes I would drop by her place and she would just sit there at the table with her hands in prayer. I don’t know for how long she was sitting there like that, it could have been for hours or just one moment. This could happen at any time during the day and it always gave me a feeling of peace and calm. I knew she was always praying for her children, grandchildren, and everyone around her.

Sometimes I wonder what stops me from doing the same; what makes the simple act of prayer feel like a bigger task than it should be. Granted, it’s not easy to be like my grandmother in this busy day and age. The present-day demands so much of our attention that we end up thinking it’s possible to pray only after the work is done, the kids are asleep or after our favorite TV show is over. We may want to have a special place, with candles and a cup of coffee or tea, sit on a specific chair during a specific time in the evening. We think we need the ideal setup in order to pray.

But as much as it’s useful to take time for our planned ‘meetings with God’, we also need the fast, spontaneous ‘flash prayers’, ‘one-liners’ throughout the whole day. These small prayers that are just a few words coming out of our hearts can be found quite often in the Bible, even though easily overlooked. They can be as simple as ‘Lord, save me’ or ‘God, have mercy on me’. Let us remember that a prayer doesn’t always have to be long and with many words, but can also be a simple, brief cry to our Father.

The Lord is always near to us, no matter what activity we’re into; He is actively listening and eagerly waiting for our attention. Whenever we turn to Him, even with a two-second flash prayer, He hears us.

Do you remember to pray ‘flash prayers’ throughout the day, outside of your planned prayer times?