World Prayers - Interesting Website

I went cruising around the internet last night (oh, big surprise there) checking out some of my bookmarks (or in AOL lingo...My Favorites)  I happened upon a quote at a site I had saved in my favorites

Trying to pray, is praying.  Emmet Fox

I'm not sure who Emmet Fox is.....perhaps something to explore another day.  I like his quote though.  When it comes to praying, I think God gives us an "A for effort." We are much more critical than God is.  He looks at the heart.  We listen to the eloquence of the words.  We think it has to "sound right" and some of us are even convinced it must be done in the proper order (ACTS - Adoration, Confession,  Thanksgiving and Supplication) to "work" but I don't think God is all that picky about it. 

Among the many books on our bookshelves, there is one entitled "Hey, God." It moved in when Keith did...when he moved here from Canada 7ish years ago.  One night, he read to me from the book. To the best of my recollection, it is about an Italian woman (mother of a large family)  who began her prayers with "Hey, God."  I don't think she got too caught up in the ACTS thing....and "Hey God" sounds like a perfectly acceptable way to initiate a conversation with God. It seems her intent was not so much to beckon God to draw near, since he is always with(in) us...but more of an acknowledgment of his abiding presence...of his "undivided" attention.  She knew that we always "have his ear." 

Sometimes...usually, when I talk to God, I don't even bother with the salutation.  Somehow I feel he is always listening to me.  When my sister, Vicki, was dying ( a 6 week process caused by lung cancer that had spread throughout) she told me that "He's right here on my shoulder."  Always with us...as he promised when he said, "I will never leave you or forsake you."     

And then later in my internet travels, I came across a site called "World Prayers."  Many of these prayers are the opposite of a "Hey, God" prayer.  Some are more like poems than prayers.  For those (like me) who are drawn to quotes and eclectic poems...short and snappy, long and insightful, this is a really neat site.  Check it out here. 

And as you go about your day today...remember he really is "closer than breathing, nearer than hands and feet."  We always have his ear.  Even when we think he is not paying attention.