My Favorite Prayer
Do you recall the first prayer you were taught as a child?, Have you a favorite?
Like so many children, I expect mine was the standard, "Now I lay me down to sleep ....".
Oh, but that line "....if I should die before I wake" was so unsettling! Akin to boogey-men who hide in little girls' closets. Sweet dreams? I'm thinking.... not.
Rather than confiding my fears, come bedtime I'd take a mental detour. The lips are moving, but no-one's home. Gone fishing; wherever.
Like so many children, I expect mine was the standard, "Now I lay me down to sleep ....".
Oh, but that line "....if I should die before I wake" was so unsettling! Akin to boogey-men who hide in little girls' closets. Sweet dreams? I'm thinking.... not.
Rather than confiding my fears, come bedtime I'd take a mental detour. The lips are moving, but no-one's home. Gone fishing; wherever.
Even in my adolescent years -- reciting liturgy, the Apostle's Creed, the Nicene Creed: my mind was somewhere else.... far, far away. No, I'm not particularly proud of this fact, but there it is, in spite of my parents example, their best efforts.
Then along came Malcolm Boyd, the "hippie priest." By this time I was attending my best-friend's church -- one which boasted a large youth fellowship, whose leaders who actually seemed to connect. In retrospect, our group was anything but "hippie." Perhaps we enjoyed the shock value? "Are you running with me, Jesus?"
Thankfully I now enjoy listening "on purpose", going inside prayer consciousness. In his book, The Power to Change Today, Gregory Dickow advises us: "Each morning, choose a silent, peaceful place and talk to God. Greet God as you would a friend. 'Good morning, Lord! I'm looking forward to spending the day with you'."
OK, that "peaceful place" would be my car. Backing out of the driveway ... ensuring the garage door is descending ("Houston, we have lift-off.") ... I greet the empty expanse with my favorite prayer:
The light of God surrounds me;
The love of God enfolds me;
The power of God protects me;
The presence of God watches over me;
Wherever I am .... God is!
...and all is well.
Prayer for Protection
by James Dillet Freeman
Prayer for Protection
by James Dillet Freeman
We all get distracted at times of prayers. I like at times to just talk to God as a friend and tell Him what's worrying me. I hope I remember to listen too.
ReplyDeleteGod bless, Myra.
I don't remember learning the bedtime prayer but know it, so I know I learned it. I don't pray recited prayers. I talk to God, sometimes begging for help, strength, wisdom, sometimes thanking him for what I see and hear and for helping me to see with his eyes. when a prayer is answered, as in for wisdom, I thank him for leading me. I am trying now to remember to pray every single day more times than one and not to only pray when I need his help.. its hard to do but I am doing it better than before.. I pray the prayers at the end of my daily pages I read in my devotion book, and add or subtract to them..
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