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Your Views: Are we using prayer only for our personal convenience?
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I did not think I would live to see a time when prayer was excluded from anywhere. The 9/11 tragedy found many people from all over the world feeling the need for prayer. Even after a tragedy as big as 9/11, prayer is still excluded from some places and events.

When I was in school in the '50s, we started our days with prayer. Now people and times have changed; yet things were not as bad back then as they are today. Everyday we see, hear or read news of all the pain over the world, in our schools, our churches, our streets, our homes and in areas of our communities.

We often hear people say we are praying but how long will this prayer effort last? It is for our convenience? God is needed every second of the day. We should start the day and end the day with prayer. We should pray and thank God for all things. Without him, we are nothing, often acting as electric lights that can be turned on or off with a switch.

We need to have a relationship with God that is never turned off. My strong suggestion is that one should stay in touch with God through prayer. It can and will change your life. If you don't believe me, just try it.

Do we have a relationship with God through prayer or are we just using prayer for our convenience?

Mary Powell
Gainesville