changing my prayer

I'll be the first to admit that I don't pray as often as I should. Last summer, I read an excellent book on prayer,and for a while, I applied several of the principles in that book to my prayer life. Right now, I couldn't tell you a word that the author wrote. All too quickly, I lapsed back into my self-centered prayers.

I think we all go through seasons where one particular thing is weighing on us, and our prayers focus on that--a health concern, a relationship, a job, an unsaved friend, etc. For me, while each of those things has been the focus of my prayers for a time, the one overarching prayer that I've prayed more than any other prayer in the past ten years has gone something like this: "Lord, you know how much I want to be married. How much I want to be a mom. Lord, could you please allow me to get married soon? Help me be patient and trust you. But, PLEASE???"

It has become my default prayer--the one I go to first. It varies, of course: sometimes, it's not that blatantly pleading. But other times, it's worse.

This morning, as I was driving to a family get-together, I started to pray. "Lord, please . . ." And I stopped. I didn't audibly hear a voice or anything like that, but this thought came to me: Isn't it more important to fall more and more in love with Jesus? Isn't it more important to fully trust Him?

Then and there, I amended my prayer. I'm now praying that 2009 will be a year in which my faith is strengthened. A year in which I find myself experiencing a deeper relationship with my Savior than I could have imagined.

When you think of me, I ask that you would pray those things for me, as well.