You may have noticed that we have added videos to our Creative Communications Facebook page this Advent, with different authors and editors reading devotions from our seasonal booklets in many recent days as part of a 3-minute devotion challenge. I was privileged to be asked to be a part of the endeavor. And I learned a lot in the process.
I first learned that it is not easy to set up my smartphone just right to capture my image for the recording. I found it a challenge to make sure the background of my video looked pleasing without any stray items showing that might be distracting. And I learned that reading the words that appear on the page can be difficult at first until I read them through a few times.
What I encountered making these videos can also be applied to prayer in many ways. It is good for us to spend time preparing for a moment of prayer, adjusting ourselves to speak to God in the most clear and direct way. We also pray the best when we clear our surroundings of all distractions and hindrances to our time with God. And our words of pray that we say aloud or silently become easier to pray the more we utter them.
I found that by the last video I did, I had a better handle on what to do to make it go smoothly. And staying in constant prayer can have the same effect. It becomes more natural and more second nature to our spiritual life, the more we do it. So keep the prayers coming. God is happy to hear them.