{"id":1493,"date":"2015-01-03T23:09:57","date_gmt":"2015-01-03T23:09:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=1493"},"modified":"2015-01-03T23:09:57","modified_gmt":"2015-01-03T23:09:57","slug":"a-praying-spirit-why-not-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/01\/a-praying-spirit-why-not-now.html","title":{"rendered":"A Praying Spirit: Why Not Now?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"pic<\/a>As we get back into our regular routines in the new year, I’m thinking of how I will incorporate more prayer into my days. If I look at some of the blocks on my calendar, full of doctor’s visits and other appointments, I might be inclined to think that I’ll have to wait until I have more quality, spare moments in which to talk to God.<\/p>\n

But in the Spirit of prayer, and especially as I look at an already busy year, a question nudges out the \u00a0“noise” of appointments:<\/p>\n

Why not now?<\/p>\n

It’s a powerfully simple question, but one with great implications. Why now, indeed, pray in traffic (we probably do this, already!), in line at the store, as we fold laundry, feed the cat, brush our teeth?<\/p>\n

Yes, why not pray now?<\/p>\n

That’s the spirit!<\/p>\n

Blessings for today – and this brand new year!<\/p>\n

Maureen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As we get back into our regular routines in the new year, I’m thinking of how I will incorporate more prayer into my days. If I look at some of the blocks on my calendar, full of doctor’s visits and other appointments, I might be inclined to think that I’ll have to wait until I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1272,360,43,1236,95],"tags":[1416,1414,96,1417,1413,1415],"class_list":["post-1493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-praying-spirit-prayer-2","category-determination","category-encouragement-in-life","category-prayer-2","category-prayers","tag-finding-time","tag-new-year-and-being-busy","tag-prayer","tag-the-spirit-of-prayer","tag-time-to-pray","tag-too-busy-to-pray"],"yoast_head":"\nA Praying Spirit: Why Not Now? - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/01\/a-praying-spirit-why-not-now.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Praying Spirit: Why Not Now? - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As we get back into our regular routines in the new year, I’m thinking of how I will incorporate more prayer into my days. If I look at some of the blocks on my calendar, full of doctor’s visits and other appointments, I might be inclined to think that I’ll have to wait until I…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/01\/a-praying-spirit-why-not-now.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-01-03T23:09:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2012\/09\/pic-for-website-20121-246x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mpratt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Praying Spirit: Why Not Now? - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/01\/a-praying-spirit-why-not-now.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Praying Spirit: Why Not Now? - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","og_description":"As we get back into our regular routines in the new year, I’m thinking of how I will incorporate more prayer into my days. If I look at some of the blocks on my calendar, full of doctor’s visits and other appointments, I might be inclined to think that I’ll have to wait until I…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/01\/a-praying-spirit-why-not-now.html","og_site_name":"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","article_published_time":"2015-01-03T23:09:57+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2012\/09\/pic-for-website-20121-246x300.jpg"}],"author":"mpratt","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/01\/a-praying-spirit-why-not-now.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/01\/a-praying-spirit-why-not-now.html","name":"A Praying Spirit: Why Not Now? - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/01\/a-praying-spirit-why-not-now.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/01\/a-praying-spirit-why-not-now.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2012\/09\/pic-for-website-20121-246x300.jpg","datePublished":"2015-01-03T23:09:57+00:00","dateModified":"2015-01-03T23:09:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#\/schema\/person\/b47fd8e9d9cc9750d5779f75b8669a32"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/01\/a-praying-spirit-why-not-now.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/01\/a-praying-spirit-why-not-now.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/01\/a-praying-spirit-why-not-now.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2012\/09\/pic-for-website-20121-246x300.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2012\/09\/pic-for-website-20121-246x300.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/01\/a-praying-spirit-why-not-now.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Praying Spirit: Why Not Now?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/","name":"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","description":"Beliefnet Voices","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#\/schema\/person\/b47fd8e9d9cc9750d5779f75b8669a32","name":"mpratt","description":"Several years ago, Maureen Pratt earned her Master of Fine Arts in Theater Arts\/Playwriting from UCLA's School of Theater, FIlm and Television. She expected to be writing scripts. God had other plans. A few years after her graduation, Maureen was diagnosed with a life-threatening case of organ-involved lupus. Her life turned upside down as she grappled with the effects of the illness and other health conditions that ensued. She was no stranger to serious health challenges; even as a child, Maureen had survived numerous bouts of pneumonia, flu, and other infections. But lupus made her take a fresh look at her life goals - and took herlifelong, strong Catholic Christian faith and writing in a direction she'd never imagined. Today, Maureen writes and speaks about walking with the Lord while living with chronic pain and illness. Her most recent book is \"Don't Panic!: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough (Franciscan Media). She is also the author of, \"Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain & Illness\" (Image Books\/Randomhouse), \"Beyond Pain: Job, Jesus, and Joy\" (Twenty-Third Publications), \"The First Year: Hypothyroidism, Second Edition\" (Perseus) and \"Taking Charge of Lupus: How to Manage the Disease and Make the Most of Your LIfe.\" She writes the syndicated column, \"Living Well,\" for Catholic News Service, and has also written for Saint Anthony Messenger Magazine, Journey for Women Magazine, The Upper Room Magazine, LupusNow, and Arthritis Today. Maureen's health continues to be a challenge, however she feels honored to be able to bring her perspective, from experience and knowledge, to others. \"Good Days...Bad Days with Maureen Pratt\" is a new way for Maureen to reach people who carry the burden of illness and pain in their lives, or who care for someone who does. Through the blog, she hopes to bring issues of health, wellness, and spirit into focus and, especially, inspire others that, no matter what health challenges, illness, or hardships they endure, each person can find a good way to realize the wonderful potential God has placed within each heart and soul.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.maureenpratt.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/author\/mpratt"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/548"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1493"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1493\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1494,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1493\/revisions\/1494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}