Minute Prayers

“Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased” (Hebrews 13:15-16).

I received a forwarded encouragement to pray, well actually, to praise God for one minute. Written as from God himself, it noted our tendency to ignore him and said he wanted the message to circle the world “before midnight.” Who knows how long it has been passed along. Then “he” promises a blessing for doing so. For good measure “he” adds that 80% probably won't do it. Yeah, right, God practices bribery.

It notes he is always with us, which is true. “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age,” was basically his last promise as he physically left the earth physically. The note had it rather reversed, though, as he has already and continues to bless us, which is why we should praise him: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God At least a minute per day of praise isn't a bad discipline, though you might find yourself taking more than a minute, once you begin.

You might consider a second minute if you are out of the habit ofintercession for others. Pray for those you love, your neighbors and co-workers, even thatunpleasant so-and-so across the street, then pray for our nation and its leaders—for them, not against them!

In thinking about this, I stumbled across this: https://www.christianbook.com/minute-sixty-supernatural-seconds-change-life/keith-ellis/9780768408478/pd/408478. I'm not recommending it, as I've haven't read it (yet. I just put a copy on my Kindle app. I thought reading it might challenge my own discipline).

I'm not going to make any promises; God has already made them: “...do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased” or “when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you”. Do you want God to look on you with his favor? Praise him, appreciate him, acknowledge his blessings, and thank him. Do good and share with others, starting with intercession. He will notice, and I've learned from experience that that is a good thing!
PS: The following link will take you to a list of 60 verses on prayer: https://dailyverses.net/prayer/niv and here's 14 verses on gratitude: https://dailyverses.net/prayer/niv.