“I’m afraid to say I like to pray.” Eve shared the confidence with a woman she just met. It’s not surprising. There’s a stigma in today’s world that infers if you like to pray, you must be a religious nut. This particular conversation got started because the women Eve met introduced prayer into the conversation casually but definitively.

Eve went on, “I feel like when I say I’m a Christian, my forehead will light up and there will be a rolling billboard: right-wing conservative, ban birth control, I hate gays.” An intelligent woman is ashamed to say she is a Christian and she likes to pray. How sad that time honored traits once respected are now so ill perceived.

Eve and her new friend took the conversation from there. They talked about Godly things, not so Godly things, shopping and the weather. In other words, there was nothing extraordinary about their conversation except the holiness surrounding it. God was present.

You don’t have to be sitting in a pew to find your God-focused talking points. At a party, in the store, or when you’re sitting around the dinner table, add a “Thank God!” to your sentence. It’s exhilarating to simply say out loud what you feel inside.

Prayer for Expressing Yourself

My Dearest God,
Open my lips to praise Your name!
Wherever I am, and whoever I'm with,
May Your presence be felt by me.
I will share your spirit with others
using words to honor and recognize You.
All will know the comfort You bring.