Adventures in Prayer: Unceasing Prayer

 Chapter 11 is Unceasing Prayer and I believe that I have only begun to experience this.  It is my desire! My passion and dream is to write a book, the book that already exists in my heart and has for nearly ten years, The Sacredness of the Mundane.  How sacred every second is and this topic, this unceasing prayer is the key, the secret, if you will. 
 Foster calls this unceasing prayer breath prayer.  He encourages us to start by creating our own breath prayer (a short, one line prayer that can be said in one breath) and praying it throughout the day:  Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.  Again, he is not speaking of vain repetition, but of a way of centering ourselves continually through the day, to think of God and turn to Him in every moment.  One key I see is Foster’s order of chapters.  First, as he says, we must learn to pray sometime somewhere before we can learn to pray all the time everywhere.  I see this already.  The growth in my daily, set, devotional prayer has led to more breath prayer.  I am far from where I desire to be, but I can see growth!  Praise God!  This is so encouraging. 
 And yes this is not easy.  Brother Lawrence said it took him 10 years before he was truly practicing the presence of God.  But doesn’t anything worthwhile take time and effort and work?!  The result is this, as Foster says: We become less agitated in traffic … we endure the petty frustrations of home and office more easily … we are able to listen to others more intently, quietly … we become more aware of children (and love them more!).