Prayer

I’m usually up before the chickens during the week and I like to enjoy a cup of coffee with my husband in silence before he leaves for work. After he leaves for work, I accept the challenge of motivating my two teenagers to get up and get ready for school. As I sip my coffee, I think about my to-do list and chores I’d like to accomplish daily as a stay-at-home mom. I don’t know about you, but my days rarely go as planned. God always has a keen way of showing me his plans and not my own very early on each day!

A year ago on a nice inviting spring day, my daily routine started out similarly except I wasn’t thinking about my to-do list. I was thinking
What comes to mind when you hear people talk about the power of prayer?

Maybe you’re all in–”Amen, sister!”

Maybe you internally roll your eyes a bit.

Or maybe you just kind of shrug your shoulders, indifferent. Prayer is akin to writing in a journal for you–beneficial, maybe even therapeutic, but your prayers are vague and with little expectation.

I fell into this last category until very recently. As background, I grew up with a mother who was a true prayer warrior, beating back the power of
I’m normally a great sleeper (sorry to all you insomniacs out there!). I’ve gotten to the point where I get sleepy at an embarrassingly early time, at times competing with my own kids’ bedtime routines, but I need my sleep, dang it! Once I’m down, I can usually stay down for the night, a robust 6-8 hours, depending on the day’s schedule. That is, unless something wakes me (preschooler needing to go to the bathroom, preteen waking with a coughing fit, highschooler needing his middle of the night bowl of cereal fix…), at which point I’m wide awake.

And this is when the wrestling happens. Just me and my mind…Will I be able to get back to sleep?
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I struggle to pray. I am easily distracted, also known as a person with attention deficit disorder. I also have four children ranging between the ages of 4 to 11 who take up about 98% of my time.

I’m also a perfectionist. It helps control my ADD tendencies with lists, timelines, and order. All of this to say, prayer is hard for me.

The perfectionist in me says it has to be done properly. Properly to me is that of Matthew 6:6 ~ But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.