OUR MORNING PRAYER DRIVE

My sons and I pray together every morning as we drive to school.
As a single mom, I find prayer is the most potent platform for sharing my values and what I value most.

We give thanks for all our blessings including the beautiful new day.
We ask our Guardian angels to watch over us and those we Love.
We pray for the sick and the suffering and for the special intentions of the heart.

And then we pray for the healings of the heart. For specific individuals who are broken and wounded and overcome with self will. We ask for the inspiration and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to guide them, and us, to the peaceful serenity that only comes after we have surrendered ourselves fully to the God of our understanding.

We name names...and at first my kids were surprised at the names that popped out of my mouth...But time, patience and prayer has inspired them with the understanding that God is at work in their mother's life. That somehow, probably through prayer, she has been able to let go and let God take care of the "bad" guys...and that maybe, if we pray for them, they too will stop hanging on to the resentments...and holding on to the past and the anger that binds them and hurts us.

Through our open prayers my children are learning, that sometimes we can be the key that unlocks the chains that bind others. Sometimes by letting God enter fully into our hearts, we are more fully blessed with the peace that comes from true forgiveness.

My children and I also read from two daily reflection books. 24 Hours A Day and God Calling. The first book is an AA reflection book, so my kids are learning the spirit of true sobriety. The second book, recently given to me by a friend, is purely inspirational. Ironically I've learned that the messages from God Calling were revised and re-published in the 24 Hours A Day book.

It's just proof that we're all traveling on the same path...The details of our stories may be different, but the essence is the same and so is the solution.

Prayer-unending, consistent communication with God is the most powerful weapon we will ever carry and the most efficacious gift we will ever give away...It is the one communication tool that has no limits, and the only one that is not limited by our humanness.

On our morning prayer drive to school, my sons are learning the power and the purpose and the productivity of prayer...and they are putting into practice this valuable lesson which their mom knows all too well, keeps on giving, long after our lips are silent.