I noticed something this morning as I was walking. I try to walk at an accelerated pace and there are times I notice I am not walking as quickly as I would like to be, I let my mind wander and I slow down. When I am conciously focusing on the parts of my body that are moving I move quicker and more fluidly. It made me start thinking.
When I first started taking a kickboxing class I was sore and overwhelmed. I kept going back though. I would stand and watch as Brian would tell the class what to do and they would do the sequence seemingly without thought, and then I would try to do it. I rarely got it right. There is a specific combination of hand movements, feet movements and breathing.
I kept hearing and thinking these things over and over.
"keep your hands up"
"elbows in"
"bend your knees"
"turn your feet"
"don't forget to breathe"
"cover your cheekbone"
"hands up"
"step forward"
"twist your feet"
I could go on.
I started getting it every once in a while as I concentrated on making sure all the parts of my body were working in unison to do the movement required to keep the form that was correct. I would think every time I jabbed, "step forward, turn your wrist, breath, bring it back fast." Soon I was able to jab without the thoughts. But the more I go back and the more I focus on allowing my body to work together to accomplish the task at hand, I realize it doesn't require as much thought and I am able to start fluidly moving through the combinations without much thought *only on some of them* It was an amazing feeling.
As I thought of this, I realized that it is the way things work in many things. The more you do it, the less you have to remind yourself to. I applied this to my prayer life. There was a time in my life when prayer was something I had to think about. I had to sit down and close my eyes and say "dear God" to begin my prayers. I would pray before meals, I would pray when I was excited or blessed by something, I would pray when I was hurt or afraid, I would pray when I went to bed. The more I prayed though, the more I practiced *for lack of a better word* I began to realize that I no longer require thinking about it to actually accomplish the act of prayer. My life is in constant communication with God. This is what I believe that Paul meant when he wrote in his letter to the church in Thessalonica. "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 I pray now in every breath that leaves my body. Sometimes I pray with words, other times I pray in pictures, and other times, I just pray. Always...always I am praying for you.
Prayer is more than just words before a meal or bedtime. Prayer is a way of life. It is open and honest communication from your heart to the heart of God. He is ready and willing to be that open with you. Are you ready to listen? Will you open up your heart to God?
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I was actually just thinking about this same thing last week. I was merging onto the freeway coming home from school and instinctively started to move over two lanes. Within about a mile of where I get onto the freeway, one lane ends and the next exits the freeway. But I was not thinking this as I changed lanes, I just did it because that's what I always do there. I tend to be more of a theoretically minded fellow, and often overlook the importance of actually practicing something over and over. When actually, in many, if not most situations, knowledge is no substitute for experience.
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