Our discussion turned briefly to prayer and both Ron and Brian admitted to recent improvements in their prayer walks.

Brian said that for years he lifted bookend prayers, one at the beginning of the day, and one at the end of the day. He navigated the waters in between without asking for God’s Light.

“Now I turn everything over to God,” he said. “I pray constantly, and I’ve never known such peace.”

Ron prayed for God’s help. God, help me, and help my family, friends and neighbors. But he never asked to be part of the “help” process.

“I never prayed to be useful to others. I just never thought of it. Now I make that my part of my prayers everyday. I want to be useful to others. Lord, help me to be useful”.

I’ve had similar revelations over the years. I pray throughout the day and, in the morning, I ask God to “show me where you need me. Show me where I can love and serve and share and encourage and listen. Show me how I can reflect your love and light in bigger, brighter ways.”

We learn from each other. We learn when we share. But we rarely share the particulars of prayer. So we’re not really helping each other, are we?

Lord, help me to be useful to others who want to know more about prayer.

Lord, lead me to others who want to grow their prayers, and help us help each other.

Photo by Loren Kerns