The stupid thing that, if you ask for it, will revolutionize your prayer life.

Do you pray as often as you'd like to?

If you're like the vast majority of Christians, the answer is no. For many it feels impossible to chisel out a few minutes to hit their knees during busy days. For others praying just feels like a clunky awkward process that is, even if they won't admit it, a little intimidating.

photo courtesy of Jillian at Flickr.com

Whatever the reason, prayer just doesn't seem to make it onto the daily task list. Lots of people have even challenged themselves to pray more regularly, saying,  I'll just make sure I pray every morning before I get out of bed. The really ambitious ones even planned a daily time of prayer and devotion (which some Christians seem to believe are prerequisites to getting into heaven). But eventually things got in the way. At least that's what happened to me.

I committed to regularly pray for my family and my team at church.  I did really well for about the first two and a half years. Then I hit a really rough patch. I had morning breakfast meetings, family emergencies, and high profile projects that consumed my time and attention, and I fell away from praying regularly for almost a year! Then I read about the stupidest thing to pray for, and it's completely changed the way I look at prayer.

In the book Letters to Malcolm, C.S. Lewis makes the most amazing observation about praying for the things that don't seem to be important enough to pray for - the stupid stuff. And he explains why it's important to pray even for those things.

"those who do not turn to God in petty trials will have no habit or such resort to help them when the great trials come.

We must not be too high minded. I fancy we may sometimes be deterred from small prayers by a sense of our own dignity rather than of God's."   

I do a thousand things every day. But I consider only a handful of them to be worth praying for. Then I wonder why I feel like I only run to God in prayer when there's an emergency. So in a move to develop a healthier prayer life, I'm committing to praying for more stupid things.

Today I asked God to help me clean my car, which felt really stupid. But I'd be interested in to hear from you. If you were going to start praying for stupid stuff, what would you ask for? Please leave a comment in the section below.