Lord knows I’ve tried.  Well, maybe not as much as I would like him to think.  But I have tried.  I’m great at flash prayers, like “help me” and “thank you.”  I do them daily.  But the sit-down-with-the-Master-and-have-a-nice-conversation prayers, not so good at.

I have prayed for people in my family, starting with my wife, followed by my children (oldest first), then their spouses and my grandchildren, moving through the branches of the family tree.  Didn’t get very far. So I would go over the events of the previous day (in reverse order) and give thanks for (or petition for) the characters or events I had encountered.  Got sleepy.

Praying at bedtime, however, is not so bad.  Then when you get sleepy, which is soon, you’re right where you need to be.  It doesn’t work so well if you’re kneeling by your bed (tried that a few times too).  But it beats counting sheep.

I even attempted to use the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) as a rough outline for inserting my own experiences in daily life.  Nada.

I feel bad.  I really, really believe in God.  And when things go wrong, I can pray like there’s no tomorrow.  But I was taught that a daily dialogue with the Almighty is essential to my Christian development.  Was I taught wrong?

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You’ve seen them. The colorful designs and snappy titles on the inspirational book rack as you move through the store. The offer of blessings and help with every area of your life. Specific formulas on how to manipulate the Kingdom of Heaven to give you maximum benefit.

I like to browse, but I didn’t have the time to check this one out. The title, however, set off some rapid-fire questions in my mind. Why would we put a time restriction on God? The title itself was an imperative, demanding something from the Almighty. (Perhaps adding the word “please” would have given it a touch of humility.) Do we really need a formula for praying?

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