Distractable "Prayerer" (Part 2)

~By Sharon Czerwien

In my last post about my distractable praying, I spent much of the article discussing why I need to use "short-burst" prayers throughout the day (because, uuummmm...I am quite distractable!). =]

In that post, I walked through how I pray for other people's needs via "short-burst" prayers.

Here is a quick refresh of the "short-burst" prayer idea. It is when I pray very short prayers dispersed throughout the day. That way, my brain has no time (well...less time!) for distractibility, and I am only praying about one brief topic at a time.

In my last post, however, I did not cover how I include thanksgiving, praise, and confession prayers in my day. Here are a few thoughts for today's post.

What About Thanksgiving, Praise, and Confession Prayers...

I am distractable, no matter what "category" of prayer I am trying to do! So, yes, I try to disperse short-burst "thankful/praise" and "confession" prayers throughout the day, too.

Thanksgiving Prayers:

Regarding "thanksgiving" prayers, I aim (though NO perfection here!) to be "God-mindful" throughout any given day and desire to give God the credit for on-the-spot blessings. (Again, NO perfection on my end, and I have much room for improvement!)

-Example Short-Burst "Thanksgiving" Prayers...

God, thank you for helping me figure out what to do in that crazy moment!

What a blessing, God...thank you for giving me strength to survive that busy stretch of responsibilities!

Wooowhooo and hallelujah for that pair of pants for my son! =]

Yay, thank you, God, for that wonderful parking place!

God, thank you for helping my child in that difficult circumstance.

Cool, thanks God, that you helped my husband in his important meeting.

Before bed:

Thank you, God, for my family and for protecting us today.

Thank you for helping me keep my mouth shut earlier when I was about to say something I ought not!

It is about working towards making it a habit of our heart (or gaining "muscle memory") to give God the credit for the daily things that happen. (Honestly, when I'm grumpy-as-can-be, it's a red flag for me that I am not having a thankful heart.)

I get it, though, this on-the-spot prayer stuff is much easier said than done! We can aim for progress, though.

Praise Prayers...

Praise and thanksgiving prayers are certainly similar. To help me track the difference, though, I like to think of "thanksgiving" prayers as being about what God has done/blessings He has given each day. The "praise" prayers have more to do with giving God the shout-out for who He is/His character, etc.

For me, much of my "praise" prayers are when I hear and think through praise and worship songs. I have my favorites (and have blogged about plenty of these songs...and will do more in the future, I am sure).

I also like reading different Psalms and finding ones that deal with "praise." I can then think through the different reasons the Psalmists were praising God, and then I can attempt to dwell on those things.

It is certainly okay to have overlap in thanksgiving/praise! There is definitely no magical formula, and I have seen overlap in the Psalms, too. Again, I feel it comes down to having the goal of a God-centered mindset, where HE gets the credit and glory for the goodness (and even the faith-stretching times) in our lives.

Confession Prayers...

Again, short-burst prayers are what help me!

God, so sorry, I responded ______ again. Please forgive me.

Ugh, so sorry. I know I should not have done _____ in the heat of the moment! Please forgive me.

Concluding Thoughts

Do you experience annoying distractibility while praying!? Take heart, you can certainly join my "unofficial club!"

Here's how I ended my previous prayer post:

There is no "shame-on-you-way" to approach prayer. God made you YOU, and you do not have to use the same strategies as another.

God accepts His children's words of prayer, no matter how wonky and strangely-timed they are!

~Let's pray on,

Sharon