So here's the short of it, 
Praying...

And here's the long.

Tonight we went to a dinner/ speaker event on prayer.  A Catholic Priest, an Evangelical African American Bishop, and an Orthodox Rabbi there to talk about prayer in their respective practices. I was enthralled.

After they spoke, there was an opportunity for questions. I want to share one question and one answer. One woman talked about losing her son and being unable to pray for many years. It was very clear that she yearned to be able to pray - she called it being stuck.  The Evangelical Preacher answered by saying that we should take our cue from the Hebrew psalms which often begin with a complaint or an expression of sorrow or grief.  

I was curious about that and found a few things that rang true. Of course there are many more.

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? . . . how long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? 

Psalm 31 

. . . Be merciful to me O Lord for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief. My life is consumed by anguish, my strength fails because of my affliction and my bones grow weak.

Psalm 32 

My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught. .. My heart is in anguish within; the terrors of death assail me. Fear and trembling have beset me, horror has overwhelmed me. 

Psalm 69

 ... I sink in the miry depths ... I have come into deep waters, the floods engulf me. I am worn out calling for help ... My eyes fail, looking for my God.

Psalm 88 

So Bishop Teal said to this lovely woman. Start where you are. Even if you are complaining to God, that is a prayer.  I was so grateful to hear his answer to her. I hoped that it brought her some comfort. 

I have always believed that we are praying.

Even when we are arguing.

Even when we are crying out our anguish.

Even when we don't even have words. 

We are praying.