You Do It By Doing It (Prayers Part 2)

I'm not always good about prayer.  Even when I remember to read my Bible before bed (more rare now that I'm married and it's not alone time anymore), the prayer part is kind of hard.  Like most kids, I was raised praying before you eat (that's gotta be a short one) and before bed.  The problem with praying before bed is, well, I fall asleep.  From what I understand, it's a common problem.
But Paul tells us (again!) to pray continually.  Not before we go to bed.  Not whenever we think of it.  Not even 7 times a day.  Continually.
I mentioned in my other post that I like to think of this as molding one's actions so that every thing we do is a sort of prayer.  Other people talk about turning your inner monologue into an inner dialogue with God.
Well, that's Great!  How the heck am I supposed to do that?
Well, I'll tell you:
I don't know.
I'll come back around to this later, but first here's a sad story (I have the worst life):
I've been really negative about work lately.  I have wanted to quit my job for a while now, but life circumstances were keeping me here.  Then those life circumstances went away and I'm free to pursue my dreams or whatever.  But until I have a new job, I have to stick with this one, because, well...
Finding a new job is hard.  It's discouraging.  I've got a college degree and 5 years of managerial experience under my belt, but most of the jobs I've applied for haven't even called back.  Of those that did, all but one just turned me down flat.  I got one interview and never heard from that place again.  I tried to get another good part-time internship to boost my resume, but after being selected as part of the 10% they chose to interview, I didn't get it.
BUMMER.
So I'm already discouraged by my job search, and now I have to go in to this job I don't even want.  It's so easy to get down, and to slack because you're being negative.  But God calls us to do our work diligently, even when it sucks.  How am I supposed to stay positive?
Then a prayer just kind of Hit me.  It's an old one, one I've known my whole life, one that I've never really thought about before, and one that, like all the best prayers, is set to music:

Create in me a clean heart, oh God,

And renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from Your presence,

And take not your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore unto me the joy of Your salvation

And uphold me with you free spirit.  Amen.

How many times have I sung that in church?  How many times have I mouthed those words without really thinking about them?  This prayer, this right here, encapsulates all the things I've been struggling with lately (no, always): frustration, bitterness, hopelessness, feeling weak.

So I started praying it.

During moments of weakness, whenever I was feeling negative or tempted, I would sing this to myself.  I got it stuck in my head and found myself humming it unconsciously from time to time.  The tune stuck in my head would remind me of the words and I would find myself praying.  Sure, it was the same prayer over and over, but it's a good one, and a meaningful one.  And I find that when my brain remembers to pray, I start adding little things on the end, a little conversation with God that I wouldn't be having otherwise.
I'm still not good about praying before bed, and these little prayers throughout the day don't always cover all the ground that needs covered, but you know what?  That's one of the things I'm praying about.  

That's right, I'm praying that I'll get better at praying.  I can do that.  Call the cops, I don't even care.
I've also been trying to pray about things immediately upon hearing about them.  We all say, "I'll pray for you."  And then I forget, probably you do too (agree with me, it makes me feel better about my failings).  But what's stopping me from doing it right then and there?  Or 5 minutes later as I walk to my car?  I can totally pray while walking to my car.  I can pray while cleaning dishes.  I can pray while feeding the cat.  You can't even stop me.  Punk Prayer, y'all!

Um...

Anyway...

God doesn't need 15 min every night before bed.  He needs always.  He doesn't need a well-crafted essay.  He doesn't even need words.

"The essential part of this (prayer) is not in the words, but in the faith, contrition, and self-surrender to the Lord.  With these feelings, one can stand before the Lord even without any words, and it will still be a prayer." --Russian Bishop Theophan

He Keeps Phoning Me Up (Prayers Part 1)

Once upon a time: A king wanted to marry a certain man's daughter.  Her father demanded a huge dowry.  The king told him, "Go to my treasurer and ask him for whatever you want."  The man went to the treasurer and asked an outrageous sum.  The treasurer ran to the king and said, "Great king!  This man is trying to cheat you!  Even a small fraction of what he asks would be sufficient for this dowry!"  But the king replied, "No.  Give this father what he asks.  He does me honor.  He proves by what he asks that he believes me to be both rich and generous."  The end.
When I heard this story, the great king was Alexander the Great.  But in searching the internet, I have found this story only in sermon texts, so I am lead to assume that it's in no way true.  Once upon a time.
The same week I heard this sermon, I overheard a couple of guys talking.  "It never hurts to ask.  You are allowed to say no.  If I ask for your soul and you say yes, I will demand it from you.  You can say no, but most people don't.  You'd be amazed what you can get just by asking."
Then later that same week, a friend of mine gave me a book called The Power of a Praying Wife.  It's an ok book.  I don't know how I feel about some of the things the author talks about in the exposition sections (gender stereotypes ahoy!), but it has some Bible verses and prayers at the end of each chapter (which are really the point anyway), and those are always good.
Anyway, I feel like someone's trying to tell me something.  Hmm...