Eat, PRAY, Love

I've been reading Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love. It's a great read for moms because the chapters are only 1-2 pages, so you can read a whole chapter in less than 5 minutes. The author is witty and a little funny and has some really great insights. I really liked this one on prayer. It's a little bit lengthy, but so important to remember ...

My prayers are becoming more deliberate and specific. It
has occurred to me that it's not much use to send prayers out to the universe
that are lazy. Every morning before meditation, I kneel in the temple and
talk for a few minutes to God. I found during the beginning of my stay
here at the Ashram that I was often dull-witted during those divine
conversations. Tired, confused and bored, my prayers sounded the
same. I remember kneeling down one morning, touching my forehead to the
floor and muttering to my creator, "Oh, I dunno what I need ... but you must
have some ideas ... so just do something about it, would you?"

Similar to the way I have oftentimes spoken to my
hairdresser.

And, I'm sorry, but that's a little lame. you can
imagine God regarding that prayer with an arched eyebrow, and sending back this
message: "Call me again when you decide to get serious about
this."

Of course God already knows what I need. the
question is -- do I know? Casting yourself at God's feet in
helpless desperation is all well and good -- heaven knows, I've done it myself
plenty of times -- but ultimately you're likely to get more out of the
experience if you can take some action on your end...

... Prayer is a relationship; half the job is mine. If I
want transformation, but can't even be bothered to articulate what, exactly I'm
aiming for, how will it ever occur? Half the benefit of prayer is in the
asking itself, in the offering of a clearly posed and well-considered
intention. If you don't have this, all your please and desires are
boneless, floppy, inert; they swirl at your feet in a cold fog and never
lift. So now I take the time every morning to search myself for
specificity about what I am truly asking for.

How often I come to God with vague requests and prayers. The other night, after reading this, I prayed that God would just completely heal my little man's ingrown toenail -- I thought I'd start small. In the morning, it was as good as new -- after WEEKS of being swollen and red and yucky looking. Praise God!

** I can't believe I have a Master's Degree and still don't know how to cite a source. I'll give it a try, though:

Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love (New York: Penguin, 2007), 176 -
177.