I pray to my creator on and a daily basis.  I’m praying for my family, my friends, people I don’t know, for strength, guidance and protection.  In other words, I pray for stuff, events, things, for giveness. There’s nothing wrong with praying for any of it, the Creator has the power to all things, hence there is no one better to ask of.  The rub however is the asking. This morning I prayed before I began writing.  As I think back on what was said during that prayer, about 90% of it was asking for something, the remainder was praise and thanksgiving. For me, that is an imbalance. That imbalance is a reflection of my neediness, my self-absorption and my perception that I’m in need of MUCH.

Here’s the deal.  My Creator knows what I need, He knows who I love, He knows all that ails me and mine. The Bible says something to the effect of ‘you have not because you ask not’ and I believe that, but I don’t think the intent was for prayer time to be full of requests.

Now the challenge.  I challenge myself to make a shift in my prayer time, so that the gratitude, the worship and the praise are the focus, as opposed to the asking. I challenge you to do the same.  Regardless of your faith, my belief is that the more time we spend in gratitude, praise and worship of our creator, the less time we spend absorbed in our own stuff.  This isn’t a challenge to not ask, it is a challenge to make a change. The one who created you and me deserves more of our higher selves and the world around us does too.  What will your prayer be today? Will it be more gratitude? Try it.