Prayer Edition

I missed the Lenten midway checkpoint. Maybe on purpose. I haven’t exactly done a bang-up job with Lent this year. I can’ t say I mustered any great ambition to kick off the annual forty days of preparation for Easter. I share a bathroom with five other people, have no automatic dishwasher or microwave, and no hot water in the bathroom sink. Don’t I sacrifice enough every day?

Uh, no. Not really. Not that those couldn’t be legitimate sacrifices, but it would require performing them with the right intention. Which I haven’t.

Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving.

The three hallmarks of Lent.

Perennial Lenten seasons of pregnancy and nursing little ones have left me out of the habit of traditional sacrifices. You know, the food-related ones. We’ve cut out most desserts as a family this Lent, so at least there’s that. The most fruitful fast I remember is the year I gave up listening to the radio in the car, instead filling my commutes and errands with silence. I’d considered adopting that sacrifice again, but my time in the car is sporadic these days, and with four children, it’s never silent.

Almsgiving has never done much for me. Which probably means I’ve not been doing it right. We give away a percentage of our income year-round. I’m throwing spare change in the kids’ mission boxes, but there are no little “extras” to give up and donate the difference. No cups of coffee or lunches out. We’ll make a donation from our tax refund at least, but since I haven’t earned an income in nearly ten years, I can’t say that giving money feels like much of a sacrifice to me.

That leaves me with prayer, an area where I continue to struggle based on my inability to find a few distraction-free moments during the day. I can make time for almost anything, and I do. My ability to write and do a multitude of other things is only possible because I can do it distracted and interrupted. If I count on prayer time with no distractions or interruptions, I’ve found that it just doesn’t happen. I already have issues with the all-or-nothing approach to resolutions.

That’s a long introduction to five of my favorite prayers. I can’t swing contemplative prayer at this stage in my life, but I can rely on these well-loved and treasured prayers.

–1–

A Prayer For My Husband

I came across this prayer years ago via Danielle Bean. I don’t know its source. When I’ve made a concentrated effort to recite this prayer daily, I’ve notice improvements in my marriage. It’s taped to the wall next to our kitchen sink, and I’ve ignored it for too long.