The Sunday School class I teach was talking one day about how it’s possible to pray anywhere and at any time. A first grader spoke up and replied that he couldn’t pray during the day. When I asked him why not, he said, “Our teacher doesn’t let us close our eyes during school.” After a smile, I discussed with him how we can also pray with our eyes open.
In thinking about this later, I asked myself if there were any misconceptions about prayer that I was carrying around—either from long ago or ones recently acquired—that needed correcting. This list of misconceptions started to form in my thought:
1) Was I praying because I felt it only a duty to pray?