Thursday, November 17, 2016

#15: Rinse & Repeat--Pray Again

Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you.
--Hebrews 13:8 (RSV)

I've been doing a lot of worrying these days--about my career, about a possible move to Canada, about finances. Each morning I pray for a calm spirit and a trust in God that doesn't waver. I list my blessings like the old hymn tells us:

Count your blessings,
Name them one by one,
Count your many blessings,
See what God has done. . .

But the next thing you know, I'm fretting. I start to list my blessings one more time, but again the worry rises. Why can't I pray and trust God once and for all? I wonder. Why do I have to keep working at it?

"Repeat if necessary." There's the answer, I thought. Shampooing isn't a once-in-a-lifetime thing. And neither is prayer.

As I dried my hair, I thanked God for His message from a shampoo bottle, and I began to pray again: "Here are my worries... And here are the blessings I thank you for: my three teenagers, my work, my family and friends..."

Dear God, it's comforting to know that prayer is "repeat if necessary," and that I can come to you daily, hourly, whenever I need to.

Originally published by Guideposts Devotionals on Thursday, April 18, 1996

No comments:

Post a Comment

If you'd like to respond or share your own story, use the comment box.