Pray without ceasing…1 Thessalonians 5:16

Blink!  In the blink of an eye…a prayer trigger interrupts me.  I’m reminded to pray.  Last week, I shared how prayer triggers are simply objects which represent people and places I care about.  When “triggered,” I breathe a quick  prayer to God.  It’s kind of like winking at someone with whom I share a secret. But does this nano-second prayer even count?  It almost seems  lightweight next to my carefully thought-out morning prayers.  Seated in a quiet place with Bible, pen, and journal in hand, these prayers seem more, well, weighty.

I was pondering the value of “blink” prayers the other day before an afternoon run and decided  to watch for prayer triggers over the course of my route. During the  thirty minute run, I noticed quite a few triggers.  A Virginia Tech banner in someone’s yard reminded me to pray for my dad.  Hummingbirds prompted prayer for my granddaughter. And the deer were out in number, triggering lots of prayer for my husband!

But what struck me were the number of American flags…fourteen to be exact!   I bumped into a  flag on every corner.  One was suspended from a closeline, another perched in a flower pot. Flags are my trigger to remind me to pray for the upcoming election.  So during an ordinary run,  I was prompted to pray for our nation and its election, over and over and over again.

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