Praying With Loved Ones
Easier, but easily overlooked.
This journey with Our Father Daily includes airing out my own dirty laundry.
I am not great at remembering and reminding myself to pray with and for other people.
I am an out-of-sight, out-of-mind person.
I just kind of forget that people exist when I am not interacting with them every single day.
So dear friends and, yes, even family…tend to slip my mind.
I wish I could say I was sorry, but it’s just something I have come to terms with…this is how my brain works and I doubt I will ever be as great at remembering to think of and pray for people as some others might be.
But, praying with loved ones (and by that I mean family), is especially difficult for me.
Because I know they won’t reject me or disregard my prayers! But I also know that I will always have another opportunity…so I push it off.
I think to myself, “Oh yeah, that would be great, but…I have X to do.” And I make a mental note to do it later.
And then later rolls around and whoops I shove it off for another time.
Because I know they will always love and forgive me.
Which means this is simultaneously one of the easiest ways to pray…and the hardest.
But, with a bit of practice, you can get better at creating small triggers to remind you to pray for (and, hopefully, with, on occasion) your loved ones and family.
My prayer for today
Our Father, give us the peace to forgive ourselves for not praying with and for our family. Help me to realize that beating myself up over it doesn’t do anyone any good. Spirit, I ask that you give me that nudge and push and a listening heart to pray for my family when the time comes. Amen.
Remember
Your loved ones love you, too. So don’t forget to give them the chance to do this same act of love and service for you, too.