The Art of Prayer

          Before Whopper Jr. was born I used to go to chapel every week. My dad referred to it as my hour of power; I liked to think of it as my date night with Jesus. Either way, it was time well spent. I went from 11pm to 12am every Wednesday until I got pregnant, then switched to 10pm to 11pm. I gave it up altogether when I was 8 months pregnant. It was late and in the middle of winter and I was tired. I miss it. I always knew I had that time, no matter how busy the rest of my week was. I prayed, I meditated, I sat in silence, I read Scripture.

         I find it difficult to carve out time for God these days. In the month or so after Jr. was born, I talked to God all the time, especially in the middle of the night. Nursing took about an hour at that point. First changing her diaper, then ten to twenty minutes on each breast, then burping and finally rocking her back to sleep in my arms or more often than not, jiggling her and swinging her in my arms. I would sing songs in my head to block out her crying. But usually I would pray. Pray when tears would slip down my cheeks as I was nursing. Pray when I wanted to pull my hair out because she just wouldn't sleep. Pray when she would cry and cry and cry. In the early morning hours it would comfort me to think of my sisters, Little Jo and Malt_Soda, up with their babies, going through the same thing. But really, I was alone and I knew I couldn't do it alone. So I would pray. Sometimes it would be begging God for Jr. to sleep. Sometimes it was asking God to be with me, to keep me company. Sometimes it would be asking God for His patience. I would repeat over and over in my head, I have the patience of Jesus. I have the patience of Jesus. Or when I was feeling lonely or sad, I am not alone. I am not alone. I know that I couldn't have made it through those times without God.

        Now that things are going better, now that she's sleeping for big chunks through the night, I don't need to pray to Him in the middle of the night. The days go by in a blur. The toughest time during the day is from 4-6pm while I'm waiting for hubby to come home. At that point I'm too frazzled to pray (which I guess is when I need prayer the most!), I just want hubby to come home. Now. 

       So how do you make sure you spend good quality time with God? After all, relationships require work to keep them going. If I only go to God in desperate times, it won't be long before the relationship feels like it's waning and eventually falls apart. 

          I need to carve out a chunk of time each day dedicated to my relationship with God. I need to create a routine that includes God Time while Jr. naps. Pray for me.

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