Sometimes life gets busy and the only time I find myself praying is when our family does evening prayer. I know this is good and better than nothing. But when I do have time to center and pray, especially when it’s a small carving of time in the middle of the day, I sometimes take the chance to give God all my seconds, all my breaths, all my heartbeats.
Our breath, our heartbeat, is an unconscious thing we do. So I ask God to take these things that He has given me so that I have life, as an offering for His will to be done. There’s an idea in business I’ve heard called “money while we sleep”… Well this is kind of like “prayer for when we’re busy”.
This is certainly not a replacement for time to talk with God, but I love to imagine that He is pleased with this offering back to Him.
Other times, when I see a beautiful sight, I thank Him for the beauty of His creation, and the eyes to see it. That is sometimes more felt to my core than a rosary in adoration!
This last week I got to spend time in beautiful Arkansas and I did my first unguided canoe trip. We knew that we would reach a bridge 3/4 of the way down. I paddled a bit hard even with the current to make sure we didn’t get lost. What a blessing to my eyes that bridge was! But when I looked at my watch, we were more than an hour early!
It was my own “hurry up and wait”! We picked up the paddles and coasted for a while, taking time to observe birds, sticks in the water, the sounds of birds and silence!
These special unpredicted times of rest are always appreciated and I’m grateful for the time to simply be with my God who delights in me as I am.
Let us pray:
Thank you Great Creator, for thinking me into being!
Let my brain, my body, my soul, acknowledge deeply how precious, loved, and unique I am in your sight. Of all the life circumstances you could have given me, you have given me this life. I accept it and am thankful for it. Take each second, each breath, each heartbeat as an offering of gratitude to you, until I am completely yours, never to depart from you!