Prayer

I have been reading the book, Spiritual Classics, edited by Richard J. Foster and Emilie Griffin. This book has prompted me to examine my prayer life and how it has evolved.

For most of my life, I have put prayer in a box. I believed you must bow your head, close your eyes and follow other traditions or you weren't actually communicating with God. Over the last few years, I have opened my mind and extended my definition of prayer.

Now I believe:

1. Eyes closed or open; God doesn't care. If you're praying while driving, you better keep those eyes open!

2. Formal introductions aren't necessary. If you feel like addressing God as "Our Father who art in heaven," that's great, but he also hears you when you start mid-sentence.

3. You don't have to say "Amen." In fact, beyond prayers for food and corporate prayer at church, I never say "Amen." That implies your praying is over. Mine never is. My mind works 90 mph, so I will pray a little bit, think a little bit, and then pray some more. I think God can handle it.

4. Sometimes you don't even have to use words. You can offer God your feelings. You can just think about your problem or your praise and mentally send it up to him. He gets it.

5. I believe physical actions can also be prayers. Feeding a homeless person or helping up a fallen one is a prayer of service to God. Any action you do that extends love to another is a prayer.

6. You can write them down instead of saying them aloud. I enjoy this because it helps me focus, and then months later I can look back in my journal and see how my worries of that day compared to other days. It puts some perspective in my prayer life.

7. Sitting quietly and listening to your heart is also a form of prayer.

This is by no means a complete list of forms of prayer. That's the point. You can't make a complete list because you can't quantify all the numbers of ways to pray. People think up new ones every day and God still hears them.