Recently a new friend was telling me that she was having shoulder surgery soon. So I was just praying for her that things go well, of course, and that she recovers quicker than expected. And praying for her surgeon too, that he does what needs to be done, does it efficiently and superbly.
But then I thought well, yeah, a lot of people are probably getting shoulder surgery today. So I threw that addendum prayer onto the end, as I think we often do… Lord please help everyone who’s getting shoulder surgery today. And then I added… well, everyone who’s getting any kind of surgery today, too, I guess. And wait… anyone who’s in the hospital today and suffering in any kind of pain. And, oh! …..every doctor that’s working today to help fix them… And then what about the people who are in pain but can’t afford to be in the hospital? Or have no access to healthcare. And so then my prayers drifted there. And what about places in the world that are so remote that there isn’t even such a thing as a hospital or doctors or surgery?
And of course, as you can see prayer can become endless. Which is, really, a good thing I guess. But it starts to feel almost futile. Like, does it ever end? Does all this vague praying dilute the effectiveness or the sincerity of my prayers? Is there ever a time I can feel like I’ve prayed enough?
I guess that’s why Joyce Meyer says she likes to “pray her way through the day.” She says we can pray to God about anything. And she does mean anything. She prays that her hair stylist does a good job on her hair. She prays that she bowls well on her bowling league. She prays for every little thing in each part of her day. I used to think someone who prayed like that was ridiculous. But now I admire them so much.
Should We Pray All Day?
I think when Paul said we are to pray ceaselessly, that’s what he means. Not that we should sit with our heads bowed, or kneel with our hands clasped in fervent, holy prayer 24/7. But that we just pray and have an ongoing conversation with Jesus all day long about everything that’s going on in our lives, and the lives of people around us.
Brother Lawrence was a monk who lived in the 1600s in a Carmelite monastery in Paris and he really got this. Basically his job at the monastery was mostly working as a cook. He focused on spending every minute of the day in God’s presence, and for God’s purpose.
He wrote letters to a friend about this spiritual practice. And his writings were put in a book after his death called The Practice of the Presence of God. An excerpt can be found here.
It was a series of the letters that he wrote about how every little thing he did was for God. Every dish he washed in the kitchen, every plate he served… his mind never strayed far from God throughout his entire day. He got to the point that every single thing he did, he did out of love for God. He talks about how it was only difficult for the first 10 years.(!)
It sounds like a lot of work. But I’ve been trying to do it, been working on it. I’m nowhere near Brother Lawrence’s level of commitment, but I am trying to make prayer my go-to whenever I remember, all throughout the day. Good times, bad times, regular times. Trying not to wait for a crisis to think to pray.
And it really does become a very comfortable, reassuring, peaceful practice to rely on. It’s just such a great reminder that God is always right there with you. And a reminder of the peace that you can have when you acknowledge his presence.
So when prayer seems endless and sometimes frustrating it’s helpful to remember that every word that you speak to God with sincerity, every moment you take to listen for his answer, draws you closer and closer to him. And to that beautiful mystery…the peace that passes understanding, that we are all searching for.
