Day 326 of the Calendar Year

Prayer time seems very appropriate today. Could there be a message here? I am going to a church service today (Sunday) led by a friend of mine. He recently left another church to start a new church. He often said he did not feel like the other church was going in the direction that he wanted it to and that there was a lot of old baggage in the church. Starting new was a way for Bishop Bill to create a direction that he felt was more in keeping with his idea of God’s mission.

In the words of Bishop William A. Watson, III, "Bishop Bill” founder and Senior Pastor of the Revelation Christian Center, International:

"Know that you are free to worship in any way that Biblical decorum demands and the Holy Spirit leads. We are not concerned about where you've come from, we want to help you to get where you are going. Your past is just that, the past. We will help you focus on your future."

Of course, prayer time does not have to be on a Sunday or in a church. You can pray anytime and anywhere. Prayer is a conversation between you and your god or spirits. Prayer is universal. Catholics, Jews, Christians, Buddhists, Muslims and Hindus all pray. Many spiritual leaders espouse the value of prayers in their lives. Atheists might also find value in prayer. Even if you are not deeply religious, prayer can be helpful. There are many methods and types of prayers. For instance, a prayer well known by AA members is:

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
--Reinhold Niebuhr

Another one of my favorite prayers has been attributed to Big Thunder (Bedagi) a late 19th. Century Algonquin:

Give us hearts to understand;
Never to take from creation's beauty more than we give;
Never to destroy wantonly for the furtherance of greed;
Never to deny to give our hands for the building of earth's beauty;
Never to take from her what we cannot use.

To learn more about prayer and the value it can give to your life, a good place to go is the following website: http://www.worldprayers.org/ At the World Prayers website, you will find many great prayers organized into an easy to use database representative of all life affirming faiths and spiritual practices without preference to any one. If you think prayer is only for deeply religious people, you are wrong. Prayer can be helpful to all of us as it allows us to reflect on the important things in life. I have never believed in prayer as a way of getting anything free or as a way of circumventing the work of life. In fact, I love the short prayer that goes: “Pray to the lord and row for the shore.” Prayer is not a substitute for living but it can be a very meaningful and worthwhile addition to your life.

Do you pray? How often? Has prayer helped you to live a more meaningful life? Have you ever thought of praying on a regular basis? Why not? Do think more prayer and reflection could help your life? What would it take to put aside five minutes for prayer each day in your life?