In an article on prayer, Heather Thompson Day, summed up how my prayers can feel most days: 

. . . I still wasn’t sure if I was talking to God or arguing with myself . . .(Teach Us to Pray)

Faith in an infinite and personal God has never been the most popular of precepts until some of us  find ourselves in foxholes. 

WWII foxholes are an apt metaphor for today, huh?

Or, the warning cry, INCOMING! 

Recently, a friend sent a link to the news that the New Chaplain at Harvard is an Atheist .

Fear sidled in, followed by chagrin, holding hands with hopelessness. How will the church prevail if Harvard falls: the cry fulminated in my heart. 

Yep — there I was: knickers in a wad, when a wiser sister chided me: “God is not a person who scares so easily —“ Moreover, she declared God will use an atheist chaplain, and she will begin to pray tonite that she lives long enough to see  Greg Epstein come to faith in Christ.    

Praying my favorite prayer — Lord, I believe, help Thou my unbelief — I read Psalm 10. It’s OK to lament — but remember the One who hears — and sees.  (2 Chronicles 16:9)

Reading the Psalms — using their words to wail — keep my emotions in manageable boundaries. Here’s a link to  Psalm 86; David shows me how to quit arguing with myself and talk to God.

It is not necessary to maintain a conversation when we are in the presence of God. We can come into His presence and rest our weary souls in quiet contemplation of Him. Our groanings, which cannot be uttered, rise to Him and tell Him better than words how dependent we are upon Him…. O. Hallesby, Prayer [1931]*

Quotes from Christians Quoting Prayer

An Interesting Link on Western Skepticism: J. Cheany, True Believers