My most powerful times of prayer have not come when I was praying.
Instead, they’ve come in the middle of counseling sessions.
I’ve had a number of counseling situations arise which were obviously beyond my capabilities or wisdom.
So with my eyes still open and with my voice still engaged in conversation, I entered into fervent prayer.
Lord, let this person see love and not fear on my face!
Lord, give me words to say that come from your mind and not mine.
Lord, bring that balance of truth and love that only you can provide.
And the answers have come. Sometimes I don’t recognize it until much later — “hey, that went better than I thought!” — and other times I sense it immediately: “I know those words came from somewhere else because I never would have thought of that on my own.”
It makes me wonder what other areas of my life might improve if I would only pray when I’m not praying.