Start where you are…

Talk to him about the little details of your life you're sure he doesn't care about. Talk to him about the ways he has let you down or disappointed you. Talk to him about the blessings heaped on you that you could never deserve. Talk to him about the anxiety you're carrying today. Just talk to him.

Prayer is not the memorizing of facts or highlighting of key phrases; it’s a relational discovery. Here is an excellent example of this kind of praying in the poetry of Ted Loder:

“Holy One,

there is something I wanted to tell you, but there have been errands to run, bills to pay,

arrangements to make, meetings to attend,

friends to entertain, washing to do ...

and I forget what it is I wanted to say to you, and mostly I forget what I'm about

or why. O God, don't forget me, please, for the sake of Jesus Christ.

Eternal One,

there is something I wanted to tell you, but my mind races with worrying and watching,

with weighing and planning,

with rutted slights and pothole grievances, with leaky dreams and leaky plumbing

and leaky relationships I keep trying to plug up;

and my attention is preoccupied

with loneliness,

with doubt,

and with things I covet;

and I forget what it is I want to say to you,

and how to say it honestly

or how to do much of anything.

O God, don't forget me, please, for the sake of Jesus Christ.

Almighty One, there is something I wanted to ask you, but I stumble along the edge of a nameless rage, haunted by a hundred floating fears of terrorists of all kinds, of losing my job, of failing, of getting sick and old, having loved ones die, of dying I forget what the real question is that I wanted to ask, and I forget to listen anyway because you seem unreal and far away, and I forget what it is I have forgotten.

O God, don't forget me, please, for the sake of Jesus Christ

O Father . .. in Heaven, perhaps you've already heard what I wanted to tell you.

What I wanted to ask is forgive me, heal me, increase my courage, please. Renew in me a little of love and faith, and a sense of confidence, and a vision of what it might mean to live as though you were real, and I mattered, and everyone was sister and brother.

What I wanted to ask in my blundering way is don't give up on me, don't become too sad about me, but laugh with me, and try again with me, and I will with you, too.

What I wanted to ask is for peace enough to want and work for more, for joy enough to share, and for awareness that is keen enough to sense your presence

here,

now, there,

then, always.”