Anne Lamott on Prayer

Tomorrow it's back to work after four days off for Christmas.  I would really like to know how four days can go by so fast. 

And alas...alas....while I did do some blog "research" and "organizing," I did not post as much as I had planned.  And the time is tick, tick, ticking away...so...I am going to post a few Anne Lamott quotes that deal with prayer (which was a recent, pre-Christmas topic here) The first two are from her book, "Plan B, Further Thoughts on Faith."  The last one is from her book "Traveling Mercies." 

I've been (very slowly) reading her three latest books...marking page after page with florescent green post its so I can come back later and find the "quoteworthy" quotes. The woman is brilliant.  I plan to write more about her in the future.  Her thoughts resonate.

But tonight, in lieu of a post that might require much writing on my part, I am going to post what she has to say about prayer...and perhaps a comment or two here or there. 

About answers to prayer:

The problem with God, or at least the top five annoying things about God is that He or She rarely answers right away.  It can take days,weeks. Some people seem to understand this--that life and change take time. I, on the other hand, am an instant message type. 

Uh huh...yep...I know just how she feels. 

....when you pray, you are not starting the conversation from scratch, just remembering to plug back into a conversation that's always in progress. 

Perhaps why Paul reminds us to "pray without ceasing?"

And from Traveling Mercies:

Here are the two best prayers I know:    
"Help me, help me, help me" and "Thank you, thank you, thank you."  A woman I know says for her morning prayer, "Whatever" and for the evening,"Oh, well,"

And now since it is definitely time for bed, my bedtime prayer might as well be...what else...

Oh well...