Lent is a special time in which many people (hopefully many of us) seek to grow in our relationship with the Lord through prayer, fasting and charitable works.  When talking about or reflecting on prayer, we might tend to focus on time and places when and where we pray.  Most of us immediately think of churches or chapels or a special room in our house as places of prayer, which is understandable and good when we approach such places to connect with the Lord.  There is, however, a wider perspective on prayer that I recently read in our "Breakfast Food For the Soul" that I and many of our "Adorers" receive by e-mail, which I want to share with all of you.  I hope you consider what it says, save it, and find yourself at prayer more often than you are or you think you are.

BREAKFAST FOOD FOR THE SOUL

I need to remember this, Lord:  just to sit in your presence, in silence, is a prayer.

To find a quiet place, to remember you are near; this is a prayer.

To sit in the stillness, to ponder the mystery:  this is a prayer.

To take a deep breath, to inhale your peace:  this is a prayer.

To hear my heart beat, the pulse of your presence:  this is a prayer.

To close my eyes to the world around, to open my heart to you within, this is a prayer.

To open my hands let go my worry and wait to be filled:  this is a prayer.

Though my heart find no words, you hear my silent prayer, in the stillness, close by your side.

When I struggle to find even one word to say you know before I, what my soul wants to pray.

When my prayer spills out all jumbled, you know precisely what my heart intends.

When I can't hear your voice I trust that your silence begins to answer my prayer.

You read my mind and all of my thoughts; you search my heart, its sorrows and joys; you know my plea before I pray.

I need to remember this, Lord: Just to sit in your presence, in silence, is a prayer.


                                                                                                                               - A Concord Pastor