Prayer

What a Friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
everything to God in prayer.

I think this hymn sums up the attitude to prayer I want, everything about it is true.

Yesterday, Tanya and I were talking and seemed to be speaking a different language, we couldn't really understand what the other one was getting at, so we prayed and it was like a fog being lifted. The other week I was having problems with a parent at the YC, it was getting to me and I was thinking what could I do, it suddenly occurred to me that I hadn't even thought about praying about it.

How often, when facing a new situation, a problem, a conversation, is there no prayer? I suppose if I am dwelling on something, over a period of time, I will pray about it, but what is my first reaction, it should be prayer, before I lose my temper, it should be prayer, before a rant, prayer, conversation, prayer, parenting, prayer, marriage, prayer, as Paul says, pray without ceasing, breathe the conversation to He who is walking with you.

It is not just the big fears, pains and burdens we carry, it is every fear, pain and burden we carry, or what peace we forfeit.