a view through annie's eyes

The other evening, a dear friend and I were chatting when she apologized for her messy prayers. But she added, “they seem to work!” I thought her way of praying was a welcomed approach to cut to the chase and pray for the heart of the matter and right on the mark. Not the flowing extraneous prayers of the pontificators and gregarious ones who seem to like to hear their own words more than they like to listen. Her prayer was from the heart and raw and full of purity. And powerful.

In contrast, life is messy. Days are scrambled with the unimportant as well as vital activities and sometimes it’s hard to know the difference. The urgent can become the important and the important can be set aside so easily for the non-emergency that presents itself as needing attention now. I start my day with good intention to be prayerful and in solitude for a half hour. Often, that time gets disrupted and many times I don’t return to that place until the next day. I am not saying ritual is the goal but the time I spend alone with God is, and something as simple as a phone call or dog needing to go potty can take me away. Urgent? Yes. Important? Not in the grand scheme of things.

So, whatever it is for you, the messy days or the messy prayers, I encourage you to bring it all to His Feet. Pray over it, sort it through with Him, and spend some time in silence. His whisper is hard to hear amid the noise. His nudges grow fewer when we fail to stop and ask. Messy prayers are powerful prayers. The rawness of your heart motive is not taken lightly by the God Who sees and loves you just the way you are.