A friend came to see me with a problem. She claimed that she no longer had the ability to pray. Try as she might, every time she began to pray she quickly gave up. She was terribly discouraged and wondered what was happening to her.

As I listened, she also told me of her recent attempts to help her mother who was suffering from the insidious disease known as Alzheimer’s.

For the past three years, she has been living with her ailing mother, caring for her needs as she has progressively become unable to care for herself. She bathed her dear mom, fed her, cleaned up after her and protected her from her mom’s own ever-increasing bizarre behaviors. It was a profoundly sad tale of commitment and sacrifice.

It occurred to me during the course of our conversation that such sacrificial actions were indeed prayers and although her prayer life was different than it once was, this woman was actively engaged in the most holy of activities. Is it any wonder that words would often fail her?

Prayer is so much more than bowing our heads and speaking to God. I do not wish to disparage such piety, of course, but I am convinced that to live a life of prayer is to be actively engaged in the world and not shut out from it. I treasure daily times of quiet and contemplation but I also know that this is but one kind of prayer.

Every task that fills our day can be done as prayer. To wash the dishes or stock the shelves, drive the kids somewhere or clean out a drain...all this and more can be offered up as a gift to the God who cherishes you and the life that is yours.

One of the most prayerful activities for me is cooking. I love to take the ingredients that God provides and carefully prepare them for my family. To savor the beauty of a carrot or smell garlic sauteing in olive oil...these are heavenly things. I am as engaged in prayer at such moments as I am at the altar.

We need to expand our understanding of the importance and diversity of prayer. I have long operated with the understanding that prayer is the awareness of the presence of God. To awaken one’s senses to the beauty of a flower or the blue of the sky is to enter into an awareness of the presence of God that is often missed in the hustle and hassle of our lives.

As my friend engaged in the sacrificial actions of caring for her mother, she entered into the world of prayer. It may not be as heartwarming or pleasant as what we normally associate with prayer, but prayer it most certainly is, especially as it brings the presence of God’s own sacrifices so vividly into focus.

I would suggest that as you continue this day you embrace it as prayer. Each person you meet, each activity you begin, pleasant or unpleasant...see it as the means for experiencing the presence of God, a God that can be found in the wonder of creation, in service to others, in love of an enemy, in the acceptance of a friend. All this is the making of a life of prayer.