Prayer Flow

Ever called a friend on the phone and rattled off,

Hello, how are you?
I am fine.
I hope you're fine, too.
Uh oh, look how time flies
Great talking to you
Let's get caught up again soon.
Bye.

What if you called that same friend five, six or fifteen times each week and always recited those same lines? I'm thinking after about the third time your friend might start wondering if you were merely calling out of a sense of duty or obligation, whether your life is actually that busy and urgent, or why you bothered calling in the first place. Especially if you never give your friend time to get a word in edgewise or give him any chance to answer and say what's on his mind before hanging up the phone.

After a while, your friend might even start wondering how much of a friend you really are.

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That occurred to me while I was thinking about prayer, and how easily we fall into the habit of using the exact same words and phrases every time we give thanks to or seek communication with the Creator.

As if by definition Prayer's gotta be a drudgery and a chore, like filing tax returns or waiting in line at the DMV. Go ahead and get it over with ... just to be safe ... and not make God feel like he's being ignored or disrespected.

After all, nobody wants to make God mad. Right? So we act as though a quick memorized prayer is enough to keep God happy and sufficient effort on our part to get the job done.

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In psychology the term Flow describes a state of total mental immersion accompanied by feelings of "energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity." It's the same thing as being "on the ball, in the zone, in the groove, in Hackmode or keeping your head in the game." (-source)

Flow is a concept often applied to competitive athletes, live musicians and winning gamblers (being "on a roll") ... and even to groups working to achieve a common goal.

Wonder why we feel it's too much trouble to become immersed with the Father and why we think it takes too much time to become fully involved in prayer?

Maybe because reciting the same six line prayer every day is so easy and so convenient ... and communication with the Father, hearing what He has to say, just isn't that important.