Throughout human history, prayer has been a significant part of how we live. We pray in countless ways. Memorized prayers. Rituals. Songs. Meditations. Lamentations. Some people dedicate their entire lives to prayer. Entire societies and monasteries have formed around particular types of prayer.
One form that often gets overlooked is the written prayer.
Most of us were raised to believe prayer requires a specific posture. Kneeling. Sometimes lying prostrate on the ground in submission. I do not dismiss this. I think it is valid. But it is not always practical. There have been times when I needed prayer and was either unable or unwilling to pray that way.
I am constantly writing. Blogs like this. Letters. Emails. Text messages. Posts. I am in the act of writing almost every moment of the day. I even record a personal journal because for it to feel legitimate, I need to record it somehow. So naturally, I began to wonder about writing a prayer down.
Years ago, I created an email address for God.
I know that sounds easy to make fun of. I have laughed at myself for even contemplating the idea. But the concept has merit. Whenever I am in a moment of trouble, despondence, or just plain contemplation, there is the convenience of quickly and easily sending my prayer to this email address.
You might argue that God would not answer such an email. Perhaps you are correct. I would argue that even though God may not be receiving my email in an actual inbox, the very idea that God listens and understands us would mean he is listening to any and all communication coming from me, regardless of the method. We can debate whether God is actually capable of listening to each and every human thought, by every individual in the human family. But even those who see God as concept must admit that the influence of deity would have the same impact on human consciousness, no matter what medium the prayer took.
So I still, on occasion, send my email to God. I have never opened this email box. I have no idea if it even gets spam. But it is an address.
“If I personalize God to such an extent that the deity I believe in is addressable in the most common way I communicate, does that lessen or increase the power of that God in my life?”
The question sits with me. I think the answer is that it increases it. Not because the method is special. Not because email is sacred. But because I am meeting God where I already am. I am not waiting for the perfect moment or the perfect posture. I am not delaying until I feel worthy or ready. I am simply reaching out in the way that feels most natural to me.
Prayer is not about the form. It is about the connection. If writing is how I think, how I process, how I make sense of the world, then writing is how I pray. The medium does not diminish the message. It clarifies it.
So here is the step. If you are someone who writes, try writing a prayer today. Not a formal one. Not a perfect one. Just write what is on your mind. Address it to whatever you believe is listening. Send it somewhere, even if that somewhere is just a file on your computer. See what happens when you stop waiting for the right way and just start with your way.
