A Healthy Prayer Life

As an RN I know health is more than the absence of disease. Seeking a healthy lifestyle requires an intentional daily choice to balance health habits in nutrition, exercise, sleep and attitude.

Seeking a healthy prayer life is similar to health- choosing intentionally each day to balance a prayer life with a variety of holy habits.

Good nutrition relies on more than one food group. A health prayer life tastes a variety of prayers. I used to only repeat prayers my mother taught me and send up millions of requests to God. The last few years I expanded my prayer experience with centering prayer, journaling, and prayers from the Bible and other Christians. My favorite Bible prayer is “I do believe, help my unbelief “(Mark 9:24) and I often just quietly repeat Thomas Aquinas’ simple prayer of “My Lord, My God.”

Exercise is vital to good health including prayer life. I can’t just talk about prayer, I actually spend time talking and listening to God. The experience of praying, setting regular time aside and creating a space for silence opens up my heart to the Spirit.

The body needs rest and so does the soul. I have learned that resting with God through silence, solitude, and the regular practice of going on retreat renews my spirit.

Attitude is always important for a healthy prayer life. It is not me, not about me and nothing I do. It is all God and only God. By spending time with Him in prayer I become less me-centered and more God-centered. I am more aware of what I need to let go and what keeps me from Him.

God gives us the wonderful gift of prayer in order to be closer to Him and to be more like Him. Hard to refuse that type of gift, isn’t it?