OPINION COLUMN God, please bless this heart attack

Andy Gargal CAR02031@BYUI.EDU Prince Charming

We ask thee to strengthen and nourish these delicious brownies, lying in a bed of drizzled caramel, dripping with chocolaty goo, topped with heaping scoops of silky vanilla ice cream and rich whipped cream.”

Sound familiar?

God is a god of miracles, but do we really believe He’s going to transform the trans fat, guar gum and yellow No. 5 into nutritious nectar for the body?

We criticize Catholics for saying set prayers, yet many of us say one nearly every time we fold our arms or get on our knees. Go to any given church meeting, dinner table or bedside and you can likely guess with 90 percent accuracy what will be said.

Sometimes it seems our prayers are nothing more than a jumble of words uttered with little or no thought.

Consider this. Have you ever begun scripture study with prayer and said, “We thank thee for this food?” Oops!

What causes this seemingly lackadaisical approach to communication with our Heavenly Father? Perhaps we forget our relationship with Him — that He is our father and we His children. We forget, even if for a moment, our purpose in life. We forget we’re made by Him, placed on Earth by Him, to become like Him.

Ever listen to a born-again Christian pray? They do it with a measure of sincerity and thought often absent in our prayers. I never hear vain repetitions, hurried words or lack of enthusiasm. They enjoy it; they love it, and it shows.

We pray that way also, but it seems we often neglect this most vital form of communication with our Father. We speed through it, end the prayer quickly and hop off.

Think how it feels when a friend rattles off, then escapes without letting you say a word. Do you feel close, loved, valued, significant? Or perhaps distant and unimportant?

He takes time to listen. He takes time to lend you breath. He takes time to find you when lost. He takes time to love you. He takes time—for you.

Take time for Him.