Everyday Prayer — Making conversations with God an integral part of your day.

by Gretchen Roberts

As a mom of three who homeschools, drives her kids to activities and works two long days a week at a Christian radio station, Gina Frandle, a Thrivent Financial for Lutherans member from Blue Earth, Minnesota, knows how crazy life can get. A self-described night owl, Frandle’s early efforts to rise with the dawn for prayer and devotions often resulted in her falling back asleep on the couch.

“I used to think I didn’t have time to pray,” Frandle says. “I thought if I got up early I’d be too crabby by evening. But when I make time for prayer and devotion in the morning, my day goes so much better.”

Frandle has discovered a simple secret: Creating a special time to talk to God—and sticking with it—is a key to a healthy prayer life. As Christians, we often think prayer has to be spontaneous in order to be meaningful, but a planned session, similar to a standing date with your spouse, might lead to a more constant relationship with God.

Develop a Routine

When Michael Giese’s close friends moved away several years ago, he discovered maintaining contact long-distance wasn’t his forte. After a letter or two and a Christmas card, the friendship fizzled. Giese realized the same thing was happening with God. “That’s when I decided to become intentional about praying,” the Tulsa, Oklahoma, Thrivent Financial member recalls.

Giese takes 30 to 45 minutes of his lunch hour at work, shutting his office door and spending that time in prayer. Though he does pray throughout the day, he likes having a special time set aside for prayer. “God is important to me, and I look forward to our time together,” he says.

Use Scripture

Studying Bible passages during your prayer time may help you build a focus. Thrivent Financial member Mary Means from Edmond, Oklahoma, incorporates a devotion and Scripture reading into her morning prayer time, using a journal to write down words and phrases that catch her eye. Then she’ll ask herself questions about what she’s written, such as “What did I learn about God?” or “Is there a promise or command here?”

Means’s devotion helps jump-start her prayers. “I start with quiet time with God instead of launching into ‘Can You do this for me, God?’” Means says. “That focus leads me right into a prayer of thanksgiving, which I carry with me through the day.”

Write It Down

Not everyone can string together perfectly formed sentences in a prayer, and that’s OK. Romans 8:26 says, “We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.&rdquo

If you’re struggling for words or just want to make sure your bases are covered, make a list. Frandle writes her prayer requests on index cards each month, starting with thanking God and continuing with specific prayers for each of her children, her husband, etc.

“It’s so early in the morning that I need to have something in front of me so I know what to say,” Frandle says.

In addition to helping you keep focus, a written list of prayers can help alleviate any awkwardness you may feel while praying with others. Mary Means and her husband, Mike, participate in a small prayer group that prays for missionaries in Africa. “We write it all down, because it takes the pressure off,” Means says. “We have something to look at in case we forget.”

Get Back on Track

Beginning a routine of prayer means having occasional slip-ups. Even Martin Luther admitted to sometimes feeling “disinclined to pray, because of other tasks and thoughts,” though when he started feeling that way he’d take his Psalter and hasten into his room.

When you skip a day here or there because life gets in the way, don’t sweat it. Means looks at her prayer life like a diet. “If I mess up one day, I just try it again the next.”

Her husband, Mike, likens daily prayer with God to daily conversations with a spouse. “If you go away on business and are separated from your wife for awhile, you can’t wait to get back, because you’ve developed that relationship,” he says.

“Cast your cares upon the Lord and He will sustain you,” the Psalmist writes in 55:22. Frandle believes taking the time for prayer is a blessing, not an added burden to an already overcrowded day. “It’s as if when I give Him 30 minutes, He gives me an hour.”

Gretchen Roberts’ article on talking with children appeared in the Spring 2005 issue of Thrivent magazine.

Planting e-Seeds of Faith

You can almost set your watch to it: Around 6 a.m. each weekday, a short daily devotion arrives in the e-mail inboxes of more than 200 people.

Bob Felt, manager of Lutheran Community Services for Thrivent Financial for Lutherans in the Ohio Region, launched his e-mail devotional in 1997 as a way to develop meaningful relationships with his clients. Today, his encouraging messages go to Ohio Region Thrivent Financial representatives, colleagues and friends, and are forwarded by recipients to many
others miles away.

A typical message includes an inspiring thought, corresponding Bible verse and trivia question. Felt often hears back, “How did you know I needed that message today?” The answer: “I don’t, but God does.”

“My job is to plant seeds,” Felt says. “Hopefully my messages will help people grow.”

[sample message from 1/17/05]

Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” Galatians 6:7

Bible Trivia
According to Luke 20:27-33, the question posed to Jesus by the Sadducees concerned:

A. Marriage in the resurrection
B. Who would hold the highest place in heaven
C. His doctrine of the salvation for Gentiles
D. The inability of the disciples to cast out certain kinds of demons
E. The Trinity

God bless your day,
Bob

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