Live Simple, Pray Hard

We make "simple living" and "hard prayer" out to be much harder than they
really are, sometimes.

To live simply means living according to Jesus' summary of the Law and the
Prophets: Love the Lord in absolutely every way possible and be dedicated to
the welfare of others as much as you care for your own. Included in that is
the idea that what is comfortable and easy for us is NOT the goal,
Consequently, to live simply, to live in conjunction with the command, is to
incorporate into our only those things of this world that are truly
necessary. We could learn much from the Amish - both in the direct
implications of simple living and in loving others.

To pray hard is really just giving ourselves to prayer even when we don't
want to. Muslims are to pray five times a day. Jews used to pray (maybe
some still due) at "the hour for prayer" in their day every day. Christians
are to "pray unceasingly." That may seem like a daunting task - but if we
simply pray the prayers we have (the Psalms among other scripture portions)
and have been taught (The Lord's Prayer, The Jesus Prayer, the Te Deum, just
to name a few) and then keep a constant prayer in our hearts when those are
not being cognitively said... Something like, "How can I best honor you now,
Lord?"

Live simply, Pray Hard. Make it so in me, Lord.