Remember God more often than you breathe, says St Gregory of Nazianzus (d. 389). Prayer is more essential to us, more an integral part of ourselves, than the rhythm of our breathing or the beating of our heart. Without prayer there is no life. Prayer is our nature. As human persons we are created for prayer just as we are created to speak and to think. The human animal is best defined, not as a logical or tool-making animal or an animal that laughs, but rather as an animal that prays, a eucharistic animal, capable of offering the world back to God in thanksgiving and intercession.
–Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia
Gladsome Lights 
Good thoughts for the end of this Thanksgiving weekend.
I am re-reading ‘1000 Gifts’ by Ann Voskamp and it is all about being thankful to God for everything. Being thankful to Him brings us great joy. Praying to God with thanksgiving is a wonderful way to live our lives each and every day, through the good and the bad.
Have a lovely weekend dear Gretchen ~ FlowerLady
LikeLiked by 1 person
A worthy goal! I’m so far from achieving it, but it’s a good thing to aim for! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
This makes me wonder why it is so easy for me not to pray–not deliberately, just … well, almost naturally (as if prayer were somehow unnatural). I believe in prayer’s importance, but I forget. Or my mind wanders. Or the words sound either presumptuous or hollow and I give up. Then I start over.
I suppose what Gregory said and the Bishop elaborated on was meant more as a challenge, or perhaps as a reminder that every day life is not really life. But that’s a difficult concept to grasp when you are not around people believe it.
LikeLiked by 1 person