You Have To Try This!

This may sound a little strange to you, but it's hard for me to find time to pray.  

What!  You're a fulltime Christian singer/songwriter!  It's, like, part of your job, isn't it?

The truth is that, even for me (ESPECIALLY for me!), life collapses in around our time, like those holes in the sand that you dug when you were a kid.  The waves come in and soon you have a mushy, wet pile where your hole with the nice, sharp edges used to be.  My time goes that way.  I have a nice plan in my mind or on paper, and soon life comes in a mushes up the time.  And what usually gets squeezed out?  Devotional time.  Sad but true.

So I share the following.  This has been working for me really well, and I've really been enjoying it.  I take morning prayer walks.  This required a decision to start doing this, because I AM NOT A MORNING PERSON!  But I saw the need and decided I would do it.  And the rewards have been well worth it.  

1. I get up.

2. I get shoes and coat on and go outside.

3. I start walking.

4. While I walk, I pray.  Out loud is how I do it, because I'm so distractible.  Everything gets me off the track.  If I mumble my prayers out loud, I stay more focussed.  

5. We have a circle of roads we walk in our neighborhood which is 1.6 miles.  That takes me about 30 minutes.

At the end, all my problems aren't solved, exactly.  But I have connected with God in a way I am not good at doing here at home.  Home has SO many distractions.  Outside does, too, but they're things like trees, birds, grass, flowers.  They wind up pointing me TO God rather than away.

So, anyway, I challenge you to try prayer walking.  I predict more peace for the beginning of your day.  Sound good?

Comments

[Dan A.]

Good idea Derek. Some famous Christians prayed standing or walking to focus and not lose concentration--to say nothing of not dosing off. And MANY find praying out loud really helps. I used to pray with a prayer partner when we ran. We would pray back forth during long runs and it worked well.

[Amber]

hi derek you probably dont remember me but i was a the blessed hope church when you sang for us my mother was michelle snyder and i was Amber her oldest and my little sister chelsey she was the yougest. i just wanted to say that i loved your music and i love your CD i know that everytime i wake up i listen to your CD and it gives me a positive feeling about christ... and most teens about my age are of trying to be cool and trying to fit in the rong croud.. but i just want to say thanks