Not Running Out: A Prayerful Reflection on Prayer

Sometimes I feel like I can run out of prayers.

But I don't.

They're here, in me, always.

I used to think only about spontaneous prayer,

Supposedly the mark of a mature Christian.

I'm not sure, though, that I preferred it.

I like writing prayers to you, God.

Oddly enough, these broken but penned

Prayers seem less pre-packaged.

They stay here. But they're also shared.

They seem to have greater longevity.

It's as if they're saying: Prayer is here to stay.

Momentarily stuck on a screen, then a swipe.

But still there.

Ready to be read and prayed again.

Rekindling, perhaps, the thoughts and feelings

From before. The first encounter with it,

With you,

After which, I was never the same.

You give me words,

I give them back. Prayer,

Words lighting up my depths,

Not running out,

And speeding heavenward.