Same - Old - Lame - Old Words
I enjoy talking to people I've never met before. I start with a warm, genuine smile and a sincere compliment, and just let the conversation take a natural flow, like rain water rushing through the countryside.
On a trip to Key West, Florida several years ago, I exercised this strategy. We were crowded into a shuttle bus that would take us from the plane to the tiny little airport. Somehow over the course of the very short ride, I engaged another female passenger and her sister in a conversation about our pedicures. She had hot pink toe nails with little white flowers...and from there it went to our purses, our dogs, our trip, our names, and by the time we stepped off the shuttle we were Facebook friends. (And six years later we still are!)
Another perfect example, I was at a large park with my in-laws. Our men were out riding bikes and we girls were responsible for cooking out. No one remembered aluminum foil...but there was another woman at the picnic site next to us who was busy preparing for what appeared to be a fairly large gathering. I volunteered to ask her for some aluminum foil.
A few minutes later I returned to our picnic site, aluminum foil in hand, and shared all I had learned about our 'neighbor', she was preparing a going-away party for her son who was about to leave for the Marines...and now I can't remember what all I had learned, but my sister-in-law listened to me, with her eyebrows raised, and commented, "How in the world did you do that? I can't talk to people like that."
I have never met a stranger. Conversing with people is fun! What I don't like is that stale, cliché 'Hi, how are you?', 'Fine, thanks. You?'
That 'conversation (and I'm using that term as loosely as it can be used) just makes my brain hurt. And how sad that we learn it in multiple languages... "Hola. Como estas?" "Bien. Gracias. Y tu?" (Please, don't judge... I never took Spanish.) But seriously, how sad is that? We learn to pretend to care in multiple languages!
I'm sure God understands. He hears the banality all the time...I know, because I'm guilty of using them...I heard one of them slip out of my own mouth just this morning, which must be why God put it on my heart to address this issue! (Makes me laugh, just thinking about it now.)
Here are some of our common 'churchy' prayers:
- lead, guide and direct us
- bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies
- bless them and keep them
- God is great, God is good
- now I lay me down to sleep
Before you get angry with me, please understand, I'm not saying that our children shouldn't learn a meal-time prayer, or a bed-time prayer. The rote prayers are how we learn the habit, but as we mature in our faith, we must replace those words with sincere expressions from the heart.
I remember hearing a man who had been asked to pray at a meeting reply, "I don't know any prayers." I stood there, puzzled, thinking, whaaaat?? God gave us prayer as a way of communicating what's on our minds and in our hearts, not to recite what someone else thinks we should be saying.
Have you ever picked up the phone and heard a telemarketer begin reading their script to you? You can tell it's a script because it doesn't feel sincere. "Congratulations, Mrs. Ringis, you are qualified for a trip to Kalamazoo. Doesn't that sound exciting?" Gee... so exciting.
I know that many retailers prefer their sales reps use a script to learn how to sell their product, but the most successful salespeople know that to make it work, you have to personalize it..."Make it your own." And that's what we need to do when it comes to our prayers. We need to personalize it. Make it our own. Let God know what's on your mind and in your heart. It's not like He doesn't know already... He's just waiting for you to acknowledge your dreams, desires, wishes and needs.
Be blessed!
On a trip to Key West, Florida several years ago, I exercised this strategy. We were crowded into a shuttle bus that would take us from the plane to the tiny little airport. Somehow over the course of the very short ride, I engaged another female passenger and her sister in a conversation about our pedicures. She had hot pink toe nails with little white flowers...and from there it went to our purses, our dogs, our trip, our names, and by the time we stepped off the shuttle we were Facebook friends. (And six years later we still are!)Another perfect example, I was at a large park with my in-laws. Our men were out riding bikes and we girls were responsible for cooking out. No one remembered aluminum foil...but there was another woman at the picnic site next to us who was busy preparing for what appeared to be a fairly large gathering. I volunteered to ask her for some aluminum foil.
A few minutes later I returned to our picnic site, aluminum foil in hand, and shared all I had learned about our 'neighbor', she was preparing a going-away party for her son who was about to leave for the Marines...and now I can't remember what all I had learned, but my sister-in-law listened to me, with her eyebrows raised, and commented, "How in the world did you do that? I can't talk to people like that."
I have never met a stranger. Conversing with people is fun! What I don't like is that stale, cliché 'Hi, how are you?', 'Fine, thanks. You?'
That 'conversation (and I'm using that term as loosely as it can be used) just makes my brain hurt. And how sad that we learn it in multiple languages... "Hola. Como estas?" "Bien. Gracias. Y tu?" (Please, don't judge... I never took Spanish.) But seriously, how sad is that? We learn to pretend to care in multiple languages!
I'm sure God understands. He hears the banality all the time...I know, because I'm guilty of using them...I heard one of them slip out of my own mouth just this morning, which must be why God put it on my heart to address this issue! (Makes me laugh, just thinking about it now.)
Here are some of our common 'churchy' prayers:- lead, guide and direct us
- bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies
- bless them and keep them
- God is great, God is good
- now I lay me down to sleep
Before you get angry with me, please understand, I'm not saying that our children shouldn't learn a meal-time prayer, or a bed-time prayer. The rote prayers are how we learn the habit, but as we mature in our faith, we must replace those words with sincere expressions from the heart.
I remember hearing a man who had been asked to pray at a meeting reply, "I don't know any prayers." I stood there, puzzled, thinking, whaaaat?? God gave us prayer as a way of communicating what's on our minds and in our hearts, not to recite what someone else thinks we should be saying.
Have you ever picked up the phone and heard a telemarketer begin reading their script to you? You can tell it's a script because it doesn't feel sincere. "Congratulations, Mrs. Ringis, you are qualified for a trip to Kalamazoo. Doesn't that sound exciting?" Gee... so exciting.
I know that many retailers prefer their sales reps use a script to learn how to sell their product, but the most successful salespeople know that to make it work, you have to personalize it..."Make it your own." And that's what we need to do when it comes to our prayers. We need to personalize it. Make it our own. Let God know what's on your mind and in your heart. It's not like He doesn't know already... He's just waiting for you to acknowledge your dreams, desires, wishes and needs.
Be blessed!
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