Forgetting Something?

I forget things sometimes. Like things I was supposed to do. Occasionally I'll leave out a word in the middle of a sentence in my writing. Very annoying.

But all that has nothing on what I've noticed myself forgetting lately. Sometimes I'm forgetting to pray like I should.

Praying should be like breathing. An integral part of my life. But lately I've been forgetting.

How does this happen? How do I go from this summer, when I learned so much about prayer, to relegating prayer to a short time in the morning and a few times I might think of it throughout the day?

I have a couple of theories. First off, dependency on myself. At home, I sometimes think, I can do this. I can manage my life. Lies. At camp, I knew I wasn't strong enough to serve like I should. Granted, the temptation to attempt self-sufficiency was at camp too, and sometimes I fell. There, though, I was reminded pretty often that I wasn't strong enough to handle things. Here at home, those reminders are fewer. With God's help, I have to remind myself.

Second? I think I may have fallen to the temptation to procrastinate. It's not like I look at a challenge and decide that, clearly, prayer isn't necessary for the situation. But it's easy to think that I don't have time to devote to deep prayer. I think that I'll do whatever it is I'm doing now, and next time I pray, I'll have a serious talk with God about it. Foolishness. I may not have time for a long prayer session right then, but I can still pray!

In life, we'll inevitably forget some things. But forgetting to let prayer saturate our lives isn't okay. It's not only displeasing to the Lord, it's devastating to us.

By God's strength, I'll again allow prayer to permeate my life.

I must.

"Pray without ceasing."

(1 Thessalonians 5:17)