PRAY-ER'S BLOCK

You know how it is when you try tp get down and pray . First of all , 101 things to do pop into your mind-things that you have never before felt the least compulsion to do . You close your eyes and say , " Dear God "and from nowhere you get the urge to clean your budgie's teeth , polish the fridge door or write to the Prime Minister .

Having fought off these sudden and unexpected feelings , you start again, "Dear God , please...." This time a whole host of questions about things that you had never wanted to know flood your little grey cells . Are a cow's horns in front of it's ears or behind ? If a gang of spiders formed a football team , how many boots would they need ? ( not counting substitues ) . When you chew gum does your lower jaw go up and down , left to right , right to left or all three ?

Having satisfactorily answered all those deeply meaningful questions , you begin again , "Dear God , please bless...." Blank . Absolutely blank . Your brain refuses to provide one single name of anyone on whom you might call down a blessings . In one split second you forget the whole human race and the names of the entire animal kingdom .

This phenomenon is so common that it ought tohave a name , so let's give it one . Let's call it "Pray-er's Block " . If you suffer from Pray-er's Block , here are a few suggestions for some treatment to un-block your prayer times :

Keep a prayer diary - just a simple notebook will do - in which you make a list of everything and everyone that you want to pray for .

Don't try to pray for your whole list every day . Set yourself a realistic target for each day of the week ( eg family members on Monday , school friends on Tuesday , missionaries on Wednesday , etc ) .

As you work through your list , pray a short prayer for each person rather than trying to work through the whole lot at one go . The longer the prayer , the easier it is to get lost in the middle of it !

People's need are not always the same , so don't feel guilty if sometimes you spend longer praying for one or two people on the list than for some others. Feel free to concerntrate on the people or things on your list that you really feel concerned about .

Before you start each prayer , take a few seconds to think about the latest news you have about the person so that your prayer is targeted at a real need and isn't just a 'God-bless-Fred' sort of thing !

Keep a piece of paper next to you that you can scribble down any odd thoughts or questions (about cow's horns , chewing gum...) that come to you . Once you've written them down , forget them until later and get back to the prayer .

Try writing a letter to God about the things on the list . Once you've finished , just read it out to Him .

If praying to 'God-in-heaven' makes God feel a long way away , put a spare chair in your bedroom (or wherever you are praying) , close your eyes and imagine that Jesus has come into the room and is sitting on the chair listening to your prayers .

Don't give up at the first loss of concerntration . Be a bit tough on yourself and once you've realised that concerntration has been lost , make yourself get back for the next thing on your list .

Use the 'distractions' positively . OK , so it's hard to be very positive about polishing the fridge door , but if one of your friends keeps coming to mind when you're trying to pray for your church's missionary , maybe the Holy Spirit is telling you to leave the missionary with him for a bit while you get on and pray for that friend . What seems like a distraction may actually be the Holy Spirit whispering to you !

~EXTRACTED FROM ONE UP~

GO BACK TO CHRISTIAN'S CORNER