The Art of Prayer
When I was little, I used to have a notebook where
I would write down who I would pray for every single day. As I filtered through
the pages I laughed at how much paper I had wasted. How worthless the little
book was. How I had only written a handful of names in sloppy big colorful
writing on each page and then designated a new one for each day even if the
names were the same.
But then I stopped for a second and I started to
think. How much time do I take now to write down who I am going to pray
for? Designating a separate page for the
hand scrawled names? And sadly, the reality to that question is that I don't, but I need to. I need to go back to that inner child who found joy
in writing those names and truly remembering to pray for them each night as my
mom held my hand.
And
I wept. I wept because that's what Jesus calls of each of us to do. That I would laugh at
such an innocent but beautiful act that I didn't know the value of until now.
Needless to say, I'm getting a new journal this
week, and guess what? I don't care if I waste a whole page with just one person’s
name on it. And why? Because that one person matters just as I as one person
meant something to Christ.
For
that single name, on that single piece of paper will be anything but worthless, and it will merely reflect the true art of prayer.
