Today's Word
"Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."
Philippians 4:6
Today's Reflection
Most of us have a complicated relationship with prayer.
We know we should do it.
We intend to do it.
We occasionally do it, usually when things are bad and we need something.
And then we feel guilty about the transactional nature of it, which makes us less likely to pray, which makes things worse, which means we only pray when things are desperate, and so the cycle continues.
Paul's instruction to the Philippians cuts through all of this with surprising simplicity: do not worry. Pray instead. About everything. With thanksgiving.
Three small adjustments hiding in that verse. First: pray about everything, not just the big things. Second: do it with supplication, which is simply honest asking, without pretending to God that you are fine when you are not. Third: do it with thanksgiving, which means starting from gratitude rather than grievance.
The prayer that changes us is not the polished one. It is the honest one. The one that starts: "I am not sure I believe this is going anywhere, but here I am anyway."
God can work with that.
Today's Prayer
Lord, here I am.
Not particularly ready.
Not particularly holy.
But present, which is what you ask.
Hear whatever I bring today,
however imperfectly I bring it,
and let it be enough.
Amen.
Today's Call
Set a timer for three minutes.
No phone, no distraction.
Just talk to God as you would talk to someone you trust.
Do not perform.
Just speak.