A Bad Morning for Worms.

It was a bad morning for worms.

I learned this as I looked out my bedroom’s picture window at birds flitting down onto the grass and plucking up their food.

I watched from my knees. I gazed out into my yard as I prayed.

I'm back to praying on my knees. I had gotten out of that habit. But then I was reading the book of Daniel; Daniel prayed on his knees, and Daniel was a great and beloved prophet. I read the book of Acts. Paul prayed on his knees, and Paul was a mighty apostle.

If a prophet and an apostle prayed on their knees, why shouldn’t I?

I had read long ago that your posture while you pray shapes your attitude in prayer. Kneeling humbles. And God is a great army, an irresistible force; it’s best to be humble and make peace with him while he’s on his way.

So I prayed on my knees, with my elbows on my bed, looking out at the birds getting their food free from God.

Some people pray as they drive. Or as they work. Sometimes that’s me. Kneeling isn’t an option. But such prayer is a blessing. Time on the road is better spent in prayer than in listening to some political pundit’s rant-of-the-day. Prayer is better than many of the businesses of life.

I pray in the mornings. Sometimes I rush through prayer, so to speak, because I have to start work by a certain time. Prayer on those days is a little like a checklist, with me remembering the people I have a habit of praying for:
- my kin
- my church (pastors and members)
- the unemployed
- the sick
- my clients in custody
- my clients generally
- people including my parents and grandparents who have died
- leaders in California and the nation
- judges in California and on the United States Supreme Court
- friends and colleagues
- and others.

Maybe one day, Jesus will answer all of my prayers; maybe he will be say that he’s pleased with the time I spent praying for others and for myself. In the meantime, some of my friends will think that all of this is silly. But as John Wimber used to say, "I’m a fool for Christ; who’s fool are you?"

Today I didn’t rush throgh prayers. This morning, I have no appointments or court appearances, so I could tarry. I could reflect on the people I prayed for; I could craft unique prayer-petitions. Maybe God helped me formulate these prayers.

And I could pause between petitions, and I could look with happiness and thanksgiving into the nature happening in my back yard. This may have been the gladdest, best time of my day today. Prayer is a blessing.

I have prayed for a friend of mine who is out of work. I recently learned that after thirteen months he found a job. So my prayer of petition turned into a prayer of thanksgiving.

As I prayed, I remembered how grandiose I was as a young man, filled with hope of a brilliant career. I still have grandiose fantasies; I try to keep them in check. Today I prayed that I might have a life, small in scope, in which God does good through me every day. If that happens, I have reason to be grateful beyond measure. After all, didn’t Paul say that God’s power is made perfect in weakness?

Before I prayed, I read the Bible. This morning it was Hosea. I’m making my way through the Bible again. Sometimes what I read before I pray shapes my prayers.

Tonight I will read in 1^st Corinthians before I pray. Night is dicey. Sometimes I fall asleep as I read the Bible, and it doesn’t necessarily matter what time I start to read. Sometimes I’m too tired to pray. So morning prayer is important, because I don’t have those problems in the morning.

I’m off to get some exercise now, and then to work. While I work out, and during the day, I may talk to God. This also is a blessing and a gift. It’s God’s grace to me, for which I need always to be grateful.