Years ago many devoted preachers and Sunday School teachers were fond of telling people to “pray hard.” Well-meaning as this advice was, it was mistaken. I often tell people to pray “soft,” which of course, means gently.
I do this because I know that the more quietly and gently we pray, the better results we get. In prayer, as in many other activities, effort defeats itself. More than once I have said to my congregation, “Pray with a feather – not with a pickax.”
Always pray gently, and especially if you have a good deal of fear, or if your difficult y seems to be a very important one.
For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee (Psalm 86:5).
The essence of prayer and in fact all communion with God is not physical. Think of it this way. If one grips a golf club too tightly it will lower your score, or if one presses too hard on a writing instrument it will make their handwriting worse. Also, both tend to indicate an insecurity or lack of practice and confidence. So it is with spiritual matters. The harder we pray the more we grip the club. When our we practice our faith each day, do the spiritual exercises of prayer and communion and become comfortable with our spiritual selves, our faith is strong and prayer becomes effortless. It is when we lack faith or when we try to force God into our limited physical understanding that we tighten and grip and feel the need to swing harder. To paraphrase Teddy Roosevelt, “pray softly and carry a big faith, and you will go far”.
Touching him softly,
Z gardener
Good Morning Garden 
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