Midwest Mary

If you’re experiencing difficult days, spend some time in prayer. You will find that quiet time with the Lord calms and answers. Prayer also helps attend to the spirit, which attends to our overall health.

Like all relationships, the more time we spend with God, the more comfortable we become with our communication. We can say traditional prayers, such as the Our Father, talk to God as we do with anyone we hold in high regard, or simply sit and listen.

Following is an excerpt from my book, Young in the Spirit.

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Maintaining our spiritual health is one key to a happy, healthy, and long life. Spiritual people navigate through the challenges of aging on the wings of faith. Our trust in God allows us to sail through the tough times more easily by lightening the weight of anxieties and fears. Once we give our troubles up to God, we don’t need to worry about them anymore. If we want assistance, saints and angels are ready and willing to help us.

Faith also encourages the recognition of the many blessings and joys that surround us every day. Even in the worst of times, we have so many gifts for which to be thankful. Looking to the positive, rather than dwelling on the negative, is the healthiest choice. It is a constructive practice that benefits our entire self.

We are holistic beings–which comes from the Greek word holos, meaning all-encompassing. Scientists and theologians agree that an interconnection between body, mind, and spirit does exist. When one aspect of our being is weakened the others suffer. Strengthen one and the others benefit as well.

Maintaining such a balance is necessary in caring for the total person. But this is not always possible. As we age, the breakdown of the body strains the mind and sometimes, the spirit as well. On the other hand, our entire self benefits when we nourish the soul. When the spirit is lifted, joy resonates through our body.

Faith is not unchanging. It fluctuates, dips and soars with life’s ups and downs. Our spirit needs daily attention, beginning with private, personal prayer time, to sustain the trials experienced by the whole body. In order to be spiritually strong each moment of every day until our last breath, we must continuously nurture and nourish it. We must pray–connecting and communicating with God every moment of every day.

The benefits of prayer are endless, as are the ways in which we can pray. Add the names of family, friends, and fellow parishioners to your prayer list and ask them to include our name on theirs. Join or form a prayer group or Bible study. As we pray for other members, they will pray for us, all members of one Body of Christ.

Here I am Lord, your faithful, loving servant. I place my many worries before you.
Thank you for hearing my prayers.

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Young in the Spirit is also available from the publisher and my website. Photo: Cantigny Park, Winfield IL

©Mary K. Doyle, 2025