Something I’m trying to change in my own life lately is making prayer a necessity instead of something I turn to only when I need something.
Because if I’m being truthful, it’s easy to pray when something is wrong.
When I’m scared, I pray. When I’m overwhelmed, I pray. When something is going on with my children, I pray. When I don’t know what to do next, I pray.
But what about when everything is good?
What about the ordinary morning when my babies are healthy, there’s coffee in my cup, everyone is safe, and there isn’t some crisis that needs fixing?
I want to pray then, too.
I want prayer to become such a normal part of my life that I don’t have to remind myself to do it. I want to talk to God when I’m thankful just as quickly as I talk to Him when I’m afraid.
And I’m realizing that one of my biggest excuses has always been time.
I’m busy. There’s always something that needs to be done. Kids need something. The house needs something. Work needs something. There’s another project, another plan, another thing running through my mind.
But lately I’ve been asking myself… am I really too busy to pray, or have I just not made it important enough to slow down for?
That one stung a little.
So this is something I’m working on.
Slowing down.
Putting the phone down sometimes. Letting something on the to-do list wait. Sitting in the quiet for a few minutes. Opening my Bible. Praying when life is good. Thanking God for things I normally rush right past.
I don’t want God to only hear from me in my emergencies.
I want Him woven into the ordinary parts of my life.
I want my first thought in the morning to become prayer before the worries and responsibilities of the day start pouring in. I want to pray over my children, my marriage, my home, my work, and the future, not because something is wrong, but because I’m grateful for them.
I’m learning that getting closer to God may require me to stop saying, “I don’t have time,” and start intentionally making time.
Maybe I don’t need to fit God into my busy life.
Maybe I need to slow my life down enough to make sure I’m building it around Him. 🤍
Fowler Homestead
