Intentional Randomness

Monday in the First Week of Lent

In my integrity you hold me fast,
and shall set me before your face for ever.
Psalm 41:12

In the middle of my morning meditation, I pick up my phone to text a friend. I chide myself a bit for the interruption, but he had asked for prayers and I want to reach out to him in this moment when his name came to mind. I am not always good at remembering to be intentional about praying for those who have asked.

As I hit send on the text message, I call into my presence the names of others who are in need. Some have asked for my petitions; some have no idea that I feel called to pray for them. Then I cast my mind to the week ahead, to the meetings on my calendar, and extend my prayer to the conversations yet to come, asking God that I can approach each with integrity.

It occurs to me that the way these names pop up randomly during my day is an invitation. Rather than seeing it as a kind of failing that I do not practice intercessory prayer in some more orderly fashion, I could think of these names as sacred refrains, a litany interwoven into my ongoing conversation with God throughout the day. Each a reminder that we are all also always on the mind of the Holy One.