Praying for persistent consistency
In your prayer life or otherwise
I work in a childcare environment.
More accurately, I work at a childcare in a “fitness country club.”
Yes, it is bougie.
But I really love working with kids, I get to know a lot of the kiddos on a deeper level because, some of them at least, I have known for at least 4 years and see them just about every single day.
And, working at a gym, it’s about that time of year where people start making resolutions…and want to know what the biggest resolution on everyone’s list is every year?
Losing weight (or just “getting healthier”)
Which means, we see a lot more kids starting in January. And that means I get to meet the next batch of kids who might be around for the next 4 years!
But, that is only if their parents are one thing: persistently consistent.
They have to make coming to the gym a part of their daily life.
It has to be one of the things that they simply can’t go without.
And I’d like to advocate that prayer should be even more important than our gym routines (but that’s just me ;) ).
But…how?
It’s a fair question, and one that I will break down a bit more over the next two days. For now, though, let’s just put it this way:
Pray often
Pray graciously (towards yourself and towards God)
We all know that Paul instructs the early church to “pray continuously” in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17.
But, he also tells us to “rejoice always.”
And I think that rejoicing is something to work towards.
It’s hard to feel joy at all times, so starting by being gracious towards yourself when things aren’t great…and being gracious towards God when things aren’t great…is a great place to build consistency.
So pray as often as you think to AND pray graciously.
And that’s how you start to build towards being persistently consistent in your prayer life.
My prayer for today
Our Father, thank you for showing us mercy and grace and peace when our lives feel otherwise. Jesus, help us feel joy when we aren’t feeling it ourselves. Spirit, remind us to pray and give us the wisdom to pray whenever you prod us. Amen.
Remember
New Year’s resolutions can be flaky, but setting a goal for yourself to be both persistent and consistent attainable. Because all it requires is you to show up, give it your best shot, and then do it again the next day.