Am I praying? (Lauren Kausner)

One of my favorite children’s books that my parents bought for my kids was a book called Am I Praying? by Jeannie St. John Taylor.  The story follows a child throughout his day getting up in the morning, taking the bus, going on a school field trip, getting lost, etc.  In each of the circumstances, whether happy or sad or scared, he wonders if he is praying.  First of all, the illustrations are kinda hilarious.  But more importantly, I think the book demonstrates that so many of our thoughts throughout the day are prayers.  For instance, when the boy wakes up he is happy about the day and thankful he is able to go on a field trip  (check, that is a prayer).  Later he gets lost on the field trip and he silently asks God to help him (check, that is a prayer).  On the bus ride home, he is thinking back on what a great day he had and that God helped him find his teacher (check, that is a prayer).*

I have had periods in my life where I was disciplined enough to spend time each morning praying before starting my day.  I confess, this has not been true for quite some time.  Perhaps I will get there again someday.  And I felt guilty about that at times until I realized that I was in prayer on and off throughout the day.  I think sometimes we get caught up thinking prayer must be formal and fancy.  It can be-if it’s genuine.  Or sometimes people feel their “form” must be correct-kneeling, eyes closed, head bent, etc.  This posture can be very helpful for prayer, but I don’t think it is necessary.  Prayer is a conversation.  It’s just talking, and since God can “hear” our thoughts, it can also be thinking.  In the book, this little kid is in constant dialogue with God.  He just openly takes all his happy and unhappy moments to God.

So, for instance:
·        You wake up feeling stressed about the day and on your drive to work you say, “God help me get to everything I need to do today” (Psalm 4:1, Psalm 5:1-3, Matthew 26:36-42)

·        At work, that co-worker tries to manipulate you again and you think, “God that person makes me so mad, why are they like that?  How am I supposed to love that person?” (Psalm 10:12-15, Psalm 25:20-21)

·        You glance out the window and see a beautiful blue sky with puffy, white clouds and you think, “God that is so beautiful!” (Psalm 8:1)

·        Your two year old has dumped out all 127 crayons on the floor AGAIN and you say, “God I’m so tired of doing this!” (Psalm 22:1-2)

·        You snap at your wife/husband/child/mother and say something nasty and later you say, “God I’m so sorry” (Psalm 51)

·        You get an unexpected break, or something goes way better than it should have, and you know God had something to do with it and you say, “Wow God, I can’t believe that just happened!” (Psalm 92:1-5)

I hope this gives you a new sense of the doable-ness of this verse: “Pray continually” I Thessalonians 5:17.

*It’s been a while since I read this book, so my examples are probably not accurate.  But you get the idea.