Thinking about you = praying for you

In my past life, I worked at NavPress Publishing Group as a publicist, a copywriter, and later as an editor. It was amazing. I love books--always have loved books--and to work at a publishing house was a dream job. I kinda miss it.

One of the books I worked on was this one:

 

It's one I had a hard time working on because I wanted to mark all the good stuff rather than any stray semi-colons, quotation marks, and misaligned subheads. I got caught up in it and had to constantly refocus to read as an editor rather than just a reader.

I read just about everything with a pen in hand and love marking in my books--it was so hard not to jot notes to myself in the margins of the manuscript pages!

Working with Jan was a joy and this is one of those books I read again and again. Though somehow it didn't make it in the small box of books we brought to Arizona and I'm desperately wanting to read it again right now. More books are coming to Arizona this summer for sure!

Have you read it? It's sort of a The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence for today--you can get a copy at my Amazon shop here. 

(My bookshop is run by Amazon and lets me earn a small percentage of sales that go through it to apply toward my own Amazon purchases. Not a huge amount, but enough to get something fun every now and then!)

Anyway...

Here's what I really wanted to say about all of this: 

I got an email or two this morning that said, "Praying for you." That's it. A few small words that felt enormous. 

One of the things that Jan talks about in her book is that thinking about someone can also be praying for that person. 

When a friend or neighbor or coworker or someone comes to mind, we can instantly turn it into a prayer for her (or him!). It doesn't have to be long and eloquent. It can be as simple as...

Be with her
Lord, help him
Have mercy
Be near
Give wisdom
Speak speace

...as we connect whoever it is to our conversation with God as we move through the day.

It's a simple practice, really. One that takes some discipline to make it a habit, but not at all difficult. Try it. When someone pops into mind, let thinking about that person become prayer.

Comments

[Bethany]

Great idea, Joanne! Thanks for the reminder that our prayers can be so simple! It's not difficult, but it does take discipline. Our church has an email prayer chain and I find myself reading it and never praying for the things mentioned! How awful!

[Aurora @ Under Transformation]

Thanks for this reminder and for the book suggestion, Joanne. I have two ladies that are heavy on my mind these days and you've given me the perfect way to channel my thinking into something productive - prayer! I've been looking for a book to read this summer so I ordered "Enjoying the Presence of God" from your Amazon shop...would you consider doing a book study on this someday a la "Spiritual Mothering?" Not that you don't already have enough to do...but maybe? :o)

[Donna]

We are working through each of brother Lawrence's letters in our Wednesday night class. It does make you think to be more conscious of how we communicate with God.