Simple Prayers

Everyone should have them.   Those simple prayers you turn to in that moment of need.  You know, those frantic moments when you are on the edge.  Growing up, I learned Mom’s- “Sacred Heart of Jesus, I put all my trust in you.”   And in those moments where I was about to “lose it”, I would pray that simple prayer.   Now, I must confess, it is not always that easy.   What I have learned is that you can’t just shout it out and move on.   You have to really mean it.   You have to truly trust.  Because to just say the words is meaningless.   I admit, sometimes I have to say it over and over so that I can get to the point where I really do mean it.   I still use Mom’s, but I also had to adapt it for me.  So my simple prayer has  become a bit of a mantra.  “Jesus, I trust in you.”   I say it over and over, each time emphasizing a different word …   Jesus, I trust in you.  Jesus, I trust in you.  Jesus, I trust in you.  Jesus, I trust in you.  Jesus, I trust in you.  Jesus, I trust in you.

And things do change.  The Power of prayer!   As Alfred, Lord Tennyson said, “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.”  We just have to pray, but maybe more importantly, trust.  And as we discussed earlier, in the end, it is God’s plan, not ours, that we have to trust in.   Sometimes our prayers don’t seem to be answered, but maybe God is answering them, just differently than we thought we had asked.  And sometimes, maybe after some time, we actually get to see the good that comes of our “unanswered prayers”.