My mother always told me and my siblings we should love God with all our guts. It was her way of telling us how deep our love needed to be. I hadn't thought of that statement in sometime until I read about praying with direction and devotion in Lois Tverberg's book, Listening to the Language of the Bible.
The idea is that whether one speaks a prayer that's been written by someone else or is made-up as you pray, you should have your whole heart in it. No one around you will know if your mind is focused on a prayer or not. But God will.
I have to confess sometimes I speak out a prayer in a manner that seems halfhearted. I don't like it, but it's true. Do you ever do that? Do you ever struggle to keep your mind on what you're asking or talking to God about? Do you ever have a last minute fleeting thought that causes you to speak an even faster, perhaps halfhearted, prayer?
It's easy to fall into these traps in today's fast pace, multi-tasked oriented society. So many things grab for our attention. Multi-tasking has become second nature for many. And unfortunately, it spills into our prayer life. However, or whenever, a prayer is spoken we should do our best to put our all into the words we speak.
Praying to God and loving him with all your guts doesn't mean you have to spend a solid hour in prayer everyday. Although, there is nothing like it when you do. But lifting up focused-from-the-gut prayers throughout the day reminds us who's in charge and who we answer to. It's a constant reminder to the very core of our being of who's the BIG boss.
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