Prayer: Wonder Struck

This challenge was to pray for twenty minutes, presenting my praises and petitions in three words only. It was a true challenge!

I began with praises. "You are _________ ." I just rolled them off. Mighty, holy, loving, provider, merciful, wise, etc. Then I began asking for help for people.  "Bless ______ family." I tried to keep an idea in my mind of what their specific needs were. If I got stuck I went back to praises, this time picturing how God is mighty ( spinning galaxies into space) or holy ( the Eucharist in a Monstrance).

Occasionally, I would drop back into normal conversation. Sometimes it was necessary. "Thanks for Helen. Glad with you. And not here where I can screw it up like with her brothers and sisters." Then there was the back and forth of how I am not screwing it up, but doing a pretty good job. They're really good kids and I had something to do with that.

It was interesting to be so intentional with my words in prayer. Three word prayers are not my favorite way to pray, but did freshen things a bit. Yet it's a bit contrived. Prayer is a relationship conversation. I doubt I would ever say to my husband, "our conversation is just a little stale; let's try just using three word sentences today." Yet God is merciful and understanding - THAT'S the wonder of prayer.