A Prayer a Day: Good morning,Lord. Since I have been writing these prayers, I have been thinking more about prayer as a practice. I try to write these prayers as would pray to you, God, but it’s a challenge. As you know, Lord, usually my prayers do not involve so many words, and never punctuation.Instead, often I think of something, hold the idea in my mind, and say to you, Lord; really, really? Or I think of some good thing someone has done and I say, “Bless them, Lord!” Or I think of some horrible thing I know about, like how many women die of domestic violence, and I say to you, Lord, “I don’t see how you have the patience to watch these bullies hurt people.” Prayer is not always pleasant words or acceptable thoughts. I remember visiting a teenager in jail and telling him to pray everyday, it would help him. He said he didn’t know how to pray. I told him he knew how to pray, that he could just say; HELP! Sometimes the most honest prayer is just, “God, please help me!” Sometimes we just don’t know what to pray, because the situation, on our mind, is so complex.The Bible tells us, that when we do not have words, that the Holy Spirit prays for us. Then there is praying in silence, sitting quietly with God on your mind. After you have sat quietly for a few minutes, say amen and move on. There are breath prayers, where you assign a few words to your inhale breath and a different phrase for your exhale: so you are breathing God into your body. You can use any pair of phrases for your breath prayer. Some people use a scripture, for example; you could inhale and in your mind say; “Nothing can separate me”: on the exhale say in your mind; “From your love oh God.” Even practicing this a few minutes a day can greatly reduce your anxiety and anger. Breath prayer is pretty awesome, because you can practice it anywhere and anytime. You can practice breath prayers instead of saying or doing something, that will make you need to practice another kind of prayer: confession. Holy God, we are grateful that you are always listening for us to pray. You are like a loving earthly parent longing to hear those first words from their babies. Help us, Lord, find the peace, love, and joy you give us when we turn to you and talk to you in our own way. Heavenly Father, inspire us to try prayer with an open mind, so that you can fill our hearts and minds, with your grace, kindness, and compassion. Come Holy Spirit and teach us to pray: amen.