It took me a while, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, I finally figured it out!
There is no separation of the secular and the sacred in my life, everything is sacred. I lived many years with this separation of church and state kind of mentality when it came to prayer.
I now understand that washing the dishes, doing the laundry, shopping for groceries, changing diapers, putting gas in the car, coloring my hair, singing on the choir, comforting the grieving are all sacred activities.
I used to think that God certainly could not have been interested in my worries about the price of gas, or how I was going pay back my student loans. Back in the day, I searched the scriptures and I found nothing explicit about my empty gas tank nor my daunting bill overload. I reasoned that God was only interested in highly spiritual and sacred stuff such as forgiving your enemies or not committing adultery.
As much as I tried in prayer to separate the nasty here and how from the sweet by and by, it never worked. I'd start out my prayer time talking about God's amazing grace and inevitably end up crying out about my broken heart. Then one day I got a hold of Philippians 4:6-7 "be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God;and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
Lo and behold! This scripture transformed my prayer life! Do you mean to tell me that God is concerned about EVERYTHING that concerns me? I can pray about EVERYTHING and God will not place me on mute?
After many years of praying, listening to God ( sometimes not listening to God), I stand on this truth...my entire life is a prayer. Prayer is not some obligatory activity that I do, split between the worldly and the hallowed. Prayer is a on-going conversation with a compassionate God who loves me unconditionally. Prayer is my life, all of my life, every aspect of my life, every day of my life!
Rev. Dr. Betty J. Tom
Preacher, teacher, author, lover of prayer.
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