Actually 33 Days Left

In 1930 a man by the name of Frank Laubach made a monumental decision. He decided to begin a prayer experiment to discover if he could be in touch with God all the time, what Paul the apostle would call, “prayer without ceasing.” His goal was to bring God to mind one second for every minute. Praying at home, praying when he was out, blessing those he walked by. A practice, for the most part, accomplished and one in which changed his life and, more importantly, changed his relationship with God.

I am on day 13 of my 40 day fast. A fast from the screen of entertainment. Which means no social media, no perusing Amazon and no “Night Agent” season 3. Until April 6, the day after Easter. So don’t email, call or text; I’ll be very busy that day. :)

The general idea, if not the intended purpose, is that when you fast for the sake of God, you spend that time praying instead of eating, or in my case, looking at screens. And, boy, would I love to tell you that that’s exactly what I’ve been doing. Praying, praying, praying. Except it’s not true, especially during the first six to seven days of this fast. 

If you’ll recall, last week I wrote about how difficult it was to find something to do instead of watching TV or checking out what my friends and family are up to. I was getting anxious about my evenings, especially my days off. How in the world was I going to fill these hours? So in that anxiousness, prayer was far from my mind. 

I’m happy to say that my life, here on day 13, has calmed down. In fact, not only have I turned off my screens, but I’ve also turned off music. Music in my house and music in my car. When I’m alone, my life is completely quiet. And the only noise that goes on are my thoughts. Thoughts about God, about my friends and family, about my neighbors, my job, my ministry, my present and my future. And all these thoughts - surprise, surprise - have slowly begun to turn into prayer. It occurred to me that I don’t have to just think about people and things, I can pray about them. Which I’m finding that I’m doing more and more.

I’m also trying to take this fasting prayer life “to the streets.” Trying to emulate what Frank did in his life. Trying to pray when I’m out and about. Which is more challenging than I thought. I’ll come home from work - a work at a church - and realize that I had little to say to God during the hours I was there. I came home from the store on Friday and realized that I hadn’t thought of God once. I was too busy picking out fruit and toilet paper and peanut butter. I walked by dozens of people, but I forgot to bless them. Oh, I did when I got in the car, but failed to do so in the moment.

Yesterday at church I got better. I prayed blessings over just about everyone that walked by me. Which kept me very busy as I hung out in the kids area filled with lots and lots of families. The funny thing is, though, I tended to pray my blessings in a whisper which made me look like a mumbler. And then I began giggling at myself for my mumbling which made me look even more concerning. But I kept at it. And when I got home I felt I had spent more time with God in those few hours than I had in a month. I felt ridiculously and amazingly connected.

What I’ve come to realize is that my prayer life operates within a type of structure. I have my quiet time in the morning and then have my evening prayer during the last walk of the night with my dog. I pray for people immediately when they ask either via text or email or phone call, but in between there’s little if any prayer. 

So the goal is set. To practice the “prayer without ceasing.” To be a constant mumbler and occasional giggler. I have a feeling that it may take me past the 40 day deadline, but I’m going to give it my best. Because just by making this change from noise to quiet, from morning and evening prayers to constant quick prayers, it has brought me to the presence of God in a way that I couldn’t have imagined. So I’m eager to discover how this next week goes. 

New Flash! I’ve just come to realize, this fast of mine that goes all the way to Easter is actually a 46 day fast because, as I’ve just looked up, you don’t include Sundays. See what I mean - I’m new at this Lent stuff. Oh well, it doesn’t matter. I’m all in because it gives me more time to work on this life of prayer. Now, with actually 33 days left.