Shower Prayers

This morning I was praying in the shower.  Can I just tell you it's the only room in this house where I'm always alone? As long as the door is closed and locked and oh yes, I do use that lock.

But I digress...

So the weather is, to quote Pooh, blustery.  It is windy and snowing and  the son drove to school.  So I started praying for his safety driving today.  Then I started praying for the safety of my other kids heading off to school on the bus, and then all the kids going to school and all the people driving and it started to snowball (no pun intended) until I was making blanket prayers for the safety of all people, everywhere.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.  It's just...that the reality of this world we live in says that someone, somewhere today is probably going to get hurt or sick or worse.  I don't like it, but it's true.  It doesn't mean my prayers weren't heard.

I was reminded in my snowball of praying as I shaved my legs, of two things.

One was a conversation in MOPS last week where a friend shared how sometimes she felt overwhelmed by the list of prayers she was saying, that she felt compelled to pray for so many people and places and needs that it sometimes felt like she would never be able to pray enough.  That is sort of how I felt in my prayers this morning.  I just wanted to cover everyone in prayer, not because my prayers were essential to their safety, but because I needed to share with God that I cared about people even those I do not know. Think of it like the way Abraham begged for the salvation of the righteous of Sodom and Gomorrah, convincing God to spare those who were "righteous".  (Genesis 18:20 + )  While I'm not in the same league as Abraham, I do believe God hears all of our prayers and that He does answer.  It  just might not be the answer I prayed for.

The second thing I thought of was an Anne Murray song from my childhood,"A Little Good News".  Basically it's about the awful news reports and sad stories, "Just once how I'd like to see the headlines say, "Not much to print today, can't find nothing bad to say because, nobody robbed a liquor store on the lower part of town.  Nobody ODd, nobody burned a single building down, nobody fired a shot in anger, nobody had to die in vain.  I sure could use a little good news today...How I want to hear an anchorman talk about a county fair, and how we cleaned up the air, how everybody learned to care..."  

We all pray for these things, the good news.  And the Good News is that God brings us closer to that.  He frees us to work toward those things, both through our prayers and through our realities.  When we see the hurt and pain we have a choice, we can pray and ask for guidance and we can go out and do something to be His hands and feet in this world, to bring good news and the Good News to those we meet. We can impact our world in positive ways, through prayers and actions, through love and compassion, through hard work and yes, even through shower prayers.

Lord, may I remember to pray without ceasing throughout the day, to speak out in compassion and love and to remember that in all things you are present.

-Peace