Hey God, Pass the Salt, Dude.

I know a lot of Christians that have a prayer ritual- that is to say, they have an allotted time, like as soon as they get out of bed, every day, that they reserve for God. Don't get me wrong, for some people, this is perfect- this charges them up, and it gets them in the zone to keep talking to God all day. Some people prefer to pray in groups, some alone- some aloud, some silently... some in the dark, some in the light, some through song, and some through art. It's awesome, and at times overwhelming, all the various ways that God gives us to worship Him and communicate with Him. For us humans, this love of versitality, is our greatest strength and our greatest weakness. Sometimes when we have so many options, we forget what the point is. We don't always remember what it is we are actually doing.

In talking with people of various faiths, it's unanimous. Prayer get's stale, they say. Prayer becomes a habit, something that is uncomfortable, or doesn't seem to inspire anything- no intimacy, no need for more, no results. I would say it is rare to find someone who has not felt that way about prayer at some point in their lives. I know I felt that way when I was first starting out on my journey. I would fall to my knees, and think- no... that's not quite right. I would nervously choose my words, hoping to say everything just as He would want me to say it. No one really explained what prayer was to me, so I went along doing what I thought was the right thing, and wondering why I felt like a cardboard cut out talking to an illusive King through a cup and wire phone set. What changed for me, was when I started talking to God casually- the way I would talk to a friend; to my Father. Through this very bumbly process, He taught me what the point was.

Learning how to do that, talk to God as if He is right beside you, is so important. My struggle in the beginning was that I felt He was far away. I was forgetting that He takes residence in me, that He is with me in all things. Prayer, for me now, is constant communication- and not always well composed and beautiful. A lot of times it's silly and weird, or it's whatever I feel a need to say- in the shower, in the grocery store, in the car with the windows down, with my husband, at a coffee shop with a guitarist playing- anywhere and everywhere. Even if we are not speaking in words, I am talking to Him, and He is right beside me- and extension of myself, a companion I am not worthy enough to have. Is there power in organized prayer and in all prayer, period? Yes, absolutely. But the point of prayer is not power, not miracles, NOT results--- it is only relationship. The beauty is, I believe, it is very much for us. God KNOWS us, through and through- every bit of our mind and body, He made. But we- do we know God like that? Certainly no, and not automatically. Prayer exists so we can get to know Him. That's oodles better than a cup and wire phone.

This communication is so much of the way that He plugs in to us and feeds us with His spirit. Speak to God as if He is here, as if you know every wrinkle in His face and the feel of His hands- as if you love Him, and you respect Him and you enjoy Him. Like many things we consider biblical enigmas, we over complicate them, we misunderstand them- but prayer is one holy mystery that we can wrap our heads around and count on. We can take that with us where ever we go, and thank God for it! It is the foundation of our Faith, and the water of our World- a river with no water can bear no life, and a house with no foundation cannot stand for long.