How

can a person “pray continually”? Is that possible?

At

first we might think this command means we should be kneeling or

bowing our heads and praying with our eyes closed 24/7. But thinking

of prayer only in terms of certain actions or postures can really

limit our understanding. Prayer is so much more!

We’ve

been looking at prayer this month as a matter of the heart. This

means prayer is not an activity that is different from all the other

things we do. It’s directly connected to every aspect of our lives,

for the enjoyment and the deepening of our relationship with God.

Many

years after the writer Flannery O’Connor died, some of her prayers

were published in a book titled A

Prayer Journal. Her prayers in that book beautifully

express her desire to love God and to think about God all the time.

Like many of us, O’Connor also chided herself for neglecting

prayer. But even her frustrations with prayer were a way of praying!

Any

time that we think about or are made aware of God and are moved to

respond, we engage in prayer. As someone said, “You can always have

a word with God.” That can happen when we enjoy God’s presence or

when we crave it; it can happen in momentary bursts of gratitude,

sporadic intercession, and silent desire. Continual prayer is the

steady beat of a heart turned toward God.