When my parents told their parents that they were pregnant for the first time, they all started praying. They prayed for a healthy pregnancy, for a safe delivery, for me to know Jesus at a young age, for a mate who would be God’s perfect will for me and probably a thousand other things.

I was born on a Monday and the following Sunday my mother brought me to church. After the service, she laid me on the altar and said, "She is yours, Lord."

When I was living a life far from fellowship with God, my mother prayed for me. I was on vacation in the Bahamas with my college friends. On our plane ride back, we hit some stomach-churning turbulence. My best friend was convinced that this was it. I reassured her by saying, "Don’t worry, my mother prays for me. God won’t let anything happen to me and since we’re on this plane together, we’ll be just fine."

I prayed for a husband. I prayed for a job. I prayed for another child after I had a miscarriage. I have prayed for friends going through divorce. I have prayed when I needed to find lost keys. When our dog ran out the door, I have prayed that He would bring her back alive. I have prayed for the salvation of my in-laws and for the safety of my brother-in-law while he was in Iraq. I prayed for Linda and for the healing of my grandparents who are slowly succumbing to the difficulties of aging. Every night I pray with each of my children and I try each time to pray for a different aspect of their lives and their relationship with the Almighty God.

Like many of you, I have prayed for big things and little things. I’ve prayed long, gut-wrenching prayers and the shortest one ever, "Jesus" when I think I’m about to get into an accident or my child is falling out of some high place and headed for a broken bone. There is much to say, theologically, about prayer. How many times is it mentioned? 109 times in the Old and New Testament of the King James version. What is the first mention of prayer? Genesis 4:26. Though mankind and God have been communicating since God breathed life into Adam. What is the dictionary definition of praying? To ask earnestly; address or petition; ask with humility and reverence; supplicate; to make supplication to God.

God speaks to us through the Bible. We speak to God through prayer. So what does God say about praying in the Bible?

Philippians 4:6-7 says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" We can go to our Father God with anything. It doesn’t matter if it’s a big thing or a little thing. Those things in our lives which cause us anxiety are just the things to bring to the Lord in prayer. I pray with my children every time they lose a toy. Then we praise the Lord together for answer to our prayers.

Romans 8:26 says "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express." When you don’t have any more words to say. When the pain is too great. When we don’t know what to say, God has us covered. He has sent the Holy Spirit to intercede for us in a language beyond words.

James 5:16 says "Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The fervent prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much." Prayer is the key that will unlock the chains that keep us enslaved in sin. Prayer brings healing.

I Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." Prayer is not something relegated to the dinner table or saved for the last seconds of consciousness each night. While we should pray at those times, prayer is more of a flowing river of communication between us and God.

These are just a few times praying is mentioned. Prayer is like a many-sided diamond. Every time you study it, it reveals more of itself. It is a gem that doesn’t lose any of its attraction, no matter how many times you look at it. You could spend a long time studying it and still there would be more to discover.

Right now we’ll focus on one facet of praying: our personal relationship to prayer. The benefits of a healthy prayer life are many. But even if our prayer life is on the south side of healthy, there are still benefits. I can think of nothing more important than talking to the Creator of the universe, the lover of our souls, the beginning and the end in my walk as a Christian.

But even so, sometimes there are roadblocks to prayer. Here are a few of those roadblocks. I think it is safe to say all of us have encountered one or more of these at one time or another:

• Your attention wanders after "Dear Jesus"

• Your prayers feel like a Christmas list instead of a love letter to God
• The right words escape you and you feel the effort is hopeless
• Your prayers feel inadequate or self-centered or phony
• You’re bored with the same old prayers
• You forget who you promised to pray for
• You can’t wait for prayer time to end
• You start praying and realize you’re thinking about paying the bills
• Prayer feels like checking off a to-do list
• You fall asleep while praying
• Prayer feels like an obligation and therefore a drudgery
• You feel inferior to other Christians

Then, so many times, I resort to throwing prayer darts. "Hi God. Bye God"

Then, there is the responsibility we have to pray for others. When someone asks you to pray for them, it’s not an invitation to lunch. It’s a yellow flag that is yelling, "Help" or "Danger". That person is opening a door that leads into a room where vulnerability, sorrow and maybe fear is trying to set up residence.

And or course, there is always guilt. It hovers over us like a helicopter. It can land anywhere in our day with a swiftness that can take your breath away. Or, it can drive stakes into our hearts and set up camp, fully expecting to make a home there. But worry slanders every promise in the Word of God. Why worry when you can pray? Worry should be the checkered flag that starts us on a race to prayer. It’s a place to start, not a place to stay. Worry is a dead end. It takes us to the wrong side of tracks, to a neighborhood full of self-indulgence, paralysis and emptiness. But prayer chauffeurs us out of that place and exposes worry for what it really is; inaction pretending to be action.

Praying is an action verb. And since the very first thing God did in this universe was to create, I think I can’t go wrong by imitating Him. My creation is not even in the same galaxy at what God can do, but as I am made in His image, I don’t think it is wrong to bring the gift of creativity that He has given all of us into our prayer lives.

It’s called Praying in Color. It is the invention of Sybil MacBeth. Now, I can’t tell you what flavor of Christian she is. The book she wrote to explain this method is not a theological treatise on praying. But, I think this is a wonderful idea.

All you need is a writing instrument and paper. You can use a lot of time or just a short time. This can be done morning, afternoon or night. And it can happen anywhere.

Take out your pens, markers, crayons or pencils and use the paper in the center of the table and let’s get started.

Here are the steps (draw on white board):

Draw a shape on paper

Inside that shape write the name of the person for whom you are praying.

Add detail: this is not an exercise in artistic drawing. It is the creation of a visual image to help heart and hand remember

Enhance the drawing: each stroke is time spent praying for that person

Keep drawing until you feel you’re finished

Add color

Start with a new request, person or verse

When you are finished, spend some time looking at your drawing to allow it to make an impression on your memory.

Now this method does not preclude distraction. If you get distracted, don’t start judging yourself and get discouraged. It’s okay to notice the distraction but refocus on praying. If the distraction comes back write a word on your page that will help you remember it later and keep praying.

Here are some more applications for praying in color:

Compost prayers – everything and the kitchen sink prayers when we dump complaints, whining, complaining and misery; those heavy burdens that God has promised to take for us. God turns our garbage into compost, but we have to throw it out first.

Thanksgivings – count your blessings name them one by one. Count your blessings, see what God has done.

Amends – With whom do you need to make amends, to make apologies, ask for forgiveness. Write the names and the wrongs. Use the drawing as a dress rehearsal. It may not even be possible to do this in person but if you invite God into the process of your confession clarity and cleansing can happen.

Spiritual journey – Make a map of your personal journey to God. Include the big things and the little things that happened along the way. One memory will trigger another and you’ll remember or discover for the first time how God has been standing next to you all along.

Mentors – Who has helped you in your spiritual life? Sunday school teachers, parents, other relatives, pastors, friends may all be on that list. Are there less obvious people who have helped you see how much God loves you?

Personal mission statement – Verbalize and visualize who you are, whose you are and what is important to you.

Healing of memories – Use praying in color to articulate old wounds, or even fresh ones, face them and then face them down.

Names for God – Let your drawing become a meditation on the way we understand and expand knowledge of God.

Scripture – Write the first verse or sentence of the verse you want to memorize. Repeat it while you add designs and color until you can say it with ease.

With a calendar – Use a blank calendar to record a prayer a day. Create an intercessory advent calendar and add a new person every day.

Let’s each choose at least one of these ideas and take 10-15 minutes to pray in color.

Praying is an action verb. Here is another way to put your prayers into action.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him" Ephesians 1:3-4