I’m going to make a confession to you and I hope you don’t think less of me. Seriously. That is not a ploy to get you read further, one more “juicy” tidbit to pass along. It is not a headline to grab your attention and then hit you with a sledgehammer. Nope. This is something I want to be honest about.

There are times when I pray that 1) I find my mind wandering; and 2) I find myself lying. Say what? It’s true on both counts. On the first I know I’m not alone. A wandering mind is not unusual. It’s not good, but it’s also not unusual. It’s the second which bothers me more, but I often find it a by-product of the first.

Let me explain (or is that excuse myself?). When my mind wanders and I come back to reality, I find I have been repeating  a phrase over and over. “Lord, let me be what you want me to be.” Of course, the real problem is not the wandering mind; it is the insincere words. Hence, the lying. But, I don’t stop there. “Lord, let me be what you want me to be.” “Let me say what you want me to say.”  “Let me do what you want me to do.”  “Let me feel…let me care…” You get the point. Is that what I really want? Am I being sincere in my prayer or is it just a thought of a wandering mind? Strangely enough, they are good prayers to pray if I am sincere. But not if I’m not. In fact, it could be downright dangerous if God took me up on it.

Okay, now is the time for more honesty. Do you find yourself in this same boat?

“Father, may my prayers be sincere as I speak them, not just empty words of a wandering mind.”