Learning to pray

I've been raised with prayer, I've prayed before, but when it comes down to it, I'm not sure that I'm really confident that I am good at prayer. I understand He wants us to speak to Him as familiar as possible, to be personal, heartfelt, and honest...and most of all faithful. As I develop a more personal, or a renewed personal, relationship with Him, I am learning to pray. Pray more often, more habitually, in good times and in bad. So why is it that prayer does not come easily when that is simply what God wants...sounds so easy!

I am learning to trust that my soul knows what He needs to hear when I pray. I also try to just talk with Him as if He was at my side physically, like a friend in the car you talk casually with as you get where you're going. I admit that I think my own personal inhibitions and insecurities play into my prayer, and I have to fight the tendency to worry what He'll think if I say something wrong or not good enough. Why is it that of all creation, God is certainly the Master of unconditional love, and it's even hard to trust THAT?

I will keep learning to pray and learning to trust that my heart and the Holy Spirit know what I need to say. I expect like talking or walking, this is a skill that gets better and easier with use. I keep recalling the verse that says 'when I am weak He is made strong" and thinking that I am like spiritual steroids for God---I am certainly giving Him plenty of opportunity to become stronger. :)

Seasonal sentiments

My sister blog, My Cancer Story, posted 'myHarvest' a couple weeks ago and I thought it fit well for the onset of fall. Here's the post:

I came upon this scripture today and wanted to share it's encouragement:

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. ~Galatians 6:9

What harvest are you trying to reap? Do you have faith that there is a harvest for your efforts in good? I've often noticed that God is more often acknowledged under bad circumstances. Some people turn to Him for support, help, hope, others turn against Him for a lack of understanding His plan. Though He wants us to lean on Him when we are weak, He also needs us to believe He is there when we reap our harvests.

~What I get from this:
I try to remember to acknowledge God's plan and presence in the good times, as well as in the bad. It's sometimes harder to remember to praise God for the blessings He gives in answer to prayer during hard times. I remind myself to pray thanks as often as I pray for help.

Further, I like this message because it implies that we should not use time of struggle to justify discontinued acts of good. His harvest is promised to be bountiful and rewarding!