Time enough to pray

In the doctor's office my mother complained that she feels like sleeping all day long. Her doctor asked if she has been doing her exercises, as he said to do last visit - and the visit before that. The suggestion seemed to my mom like a mountain too big to climb, so the doctor came up with an idea: When you are watching television, and at the top of the hour there are six full minutes of back-to-back commercials between programs, walk around for those minutes and then come back to your chair.

I remembered that advice when I was driving today, listening to a news program I like. Rather than groaning through the advertisements for Viagra and diet pills for the umpteenth time, I thought, why not lower the volume and pray till programming resumes? Is it not better to do a little praying than no praying? Wouldn't the world be changed if we prayed only during commercials? Or only while vacuuming the carpet?

Besides, wouldn't this habit tend to establish the continuous prayer that God desires?

"Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

Daniel, not having television commercial breaks as reminders, settled on a custom of praying three times a day at his open window in his upper chamber (Daniel 6:10). Jesus' custom was to wake up early before the sun rose and pray in desolate places (Luke 5:16). Royal cupbearer Nehemiah managed to fit in a prayer between a question and an answer in a conversation with the King Artaxerxes (Nehemiah 2:1-5). David found a minute to stop and ask God for battle instructions while under attack by the Philistines (2 Samuel 5:17-19).

There's almost always time enough for a little exercise, the doctor said to my mother: "Take a can of peas in each fist and raise your hands up and down 10 times." Likewise, there is almost always time enough for a little prayer to your heavenly Father. Before you know it, you may have a vital relationship going:

"O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch" (Psalm 5:3).