One day while trying to keep my mind focused on praying and not how bad the yard needed mowing and whether or not I should renovate the kitchen, it came to me again how shallow I can be. I have a hard time keeping my mind off day-to-day concerns even when I’ve set aside a special time just to be with my Lord. As I pray I insist to God that I love him. I know I should love him. After all, he loves me unconditionally and blesses me with so much more than I can ever deserve. I want to be committed to this relationship I have with him, so I pray. The problem—I cannot within myself come up with the perfect prayer or even the perfect love I want to have for God, no matter how hard I try to conjure it up. But wait a minute. What am I doing? It came to me that when I worry about my prayer life what I’m really doing is trying to please myself. Have I measured up to my standards in prayer. Have I forgotten it is God who I want to please, not myself. Again, I have to go to Jesus and hold up his perfect love for the Father as my own. He will cover what I lack. Just as I am touched when I hear a child pray, with all my prayer deficiencies, I’m pretty sure God’s quite pleased with me.
Briefly Speaking 