A Terrible Prayer

One of my favorite books of all time is Ragamuffin Prayers. I picked it up again last week and wanted to share one of the poems with you.

I have always been terrible at praying.

I forget.

My mind wanders.

I fall asleep.

I don't pray enough.

I don't understand what prayer is

Or what prayer does.

If prayer were school...

I would flunk praying.

But prayer isn't school.

It is mystery.

Maybe the mystery is...

Jesus loves terrible prayers.

Maybe...

When I can't think of anything to say, He says what I can't say.

When I talk too much, He cherishes my too-many words.

When I fall asleep, He holds me in His lap and caresses my weary soul.

When I am overwhelmed with guilt at my inconsistent, inadequate praying

He whispers, "Your name is always on My lips."

I am filled with gratitude, my soul overflows with thankfulness and I...

I... find myself saying over and over again, "Thank You."

Praying the mystery.

I feel like I can so relate to this poem- so many times I feel like I don't pray enough, get mad at myself for my wandering mind or falling asleep while I'm praying....

I find comfort in our God who knows that we are human and not perfect and loves us despite our inadequacies.