I’ve been talking too much in my prayers.
I hadn’t thought anything of it until I was stopped in my tracks last week by a Facebook post that had a quote from a book reminding me how easily prayer can become a one-sided conversation. That’s totally me lately– there’s a lot of movement and traction I’m trying to put into place before a major job change in late January. I’m afraid time is running out on me and I don’t want to miss any boats, planes, or trains that I’m supposed to catch.
So I keep talking, I keep asking. But I realized I wasn’t giving God a chance to speak to me.
While I know that the answers I seek aren’t always found in the prayers– many times they come later in unexpected places– I am also aware of the important of silence to give God a chance to speak.
On Saturday, we joined what we call “the winter pool” so that I can swim all winter– outdoors in a heated pool while our pool has dipped into the fifties and we’ll be closing it in a month. I made a promise to myself that when I go to swim each day, I’ll take that time to do a better job listening.
And I’ll use the silence to make sure that I’m not missing the messages God’s been trying to pass along to me and I’ve been too busy talking to hear.