Keep open loops to circle back to
A weird trick that applies in a lot of ways...
Just stopping in for a quick one I was inspired to write. More news coming on getting back to a regular rhythm.
I learned a weird trick on how to make sure that you remember conversations and tasks…
…the “open loop” method.
You keep a task partially incomplete so that your brain is forced to want to “close the loop.”
Our brains naturally want to bring everything back into completion, so leaving it “open” means that you are going to come back and resolve the issue.
And this applies to your prayer life as well!
If you are wanting to create daily habits of prayer, then leaving “open loops” in your prayers will make it easier to come back to them later on.
As an example, praying about a situation that hasn’t been resolved yet will remind you to come back and pray again when that situation is resolved.
Just take the concept and move it into some quirky areas of your prayer life.
Pray about how you have a big job interview coming up and you’re nervous…but don’t ask for anything. Your brain is going to want you to come back and address that again. And, when it does, complete that prayer. Seek provision from Our Father in that job interview.
These can be as big of loops or as small of loops as you want, work them in however works best for you!
I like to use them to annoy my brain into wanting to have some resolution with big open loops because I find that I can push aside small things too easily.
You may find big open loops cause you too much anxiety in your prayer times. So stick to small loops instead.
My prayer for today
Our Father, help us find ways to remind us to pray at random intervals throughout our day. Jesus, give us some ideas about how to insert some open loops in our prayers with you. Spirit, remind us why we pray whenever we get these annoying nudges to pray some more. Amen.
Spiritual practice
Find something today that you can use as an “open loop” in your prayers for the day. And see if your brain doesn’t naturally want you to “close that loop” later on. And, when you are reminded of that open loop, close it and open another one.