I like to pray.

I like to pray for that girl passing me on the street with earbuds shoved in and eyes cast down to the concrete, looking like she's carrying the world on her shoulders.

I like to pray in bars on Sixth Street, not that the people in them will "be safe" or stop drinking, but that they will know the full joy and, well, drunkenness, that comes from living in the Spirit.

I like to touch my computer screen and pray healing over my friends who post about their physical, emotional, and spiritual pain.

I like to pray for my future husband. I don't know if he's even out there, but I still pray blessing and guidance and fulfillment over him, trusting that Jesus will at least grant that to someone.

I like to pray as I kayak on Town Lake, thanking God for afro-ducks and honking geese and overly defensive swans, because they add a lot of joy and humor to my life.

I like to pray as I'm climbing rocks that Father will show me where to put my feet, because after all he knows every little groove in that rock and how it's been worn away by the wind and water (and maybe even by feet like mine).

I like to touch maps and pray for other nations, and for my friends who are in other nations serving "the least of these" and loving their neighbors as themselves. If Jesus told the Good Samaritan story today in response to "Who is my neighbor?", it might involve one of these countries we perceive as "not as important" as America. It's okay that they have to live like that, as long as we don't have to live like that, right?

I like to pray for the people I will meet in East Asia, that even now God will grow love in us for each other and that he will open my eyes to their needs.

I like to pray miraculous healing over people, though this is something I haven't done much yet. But I want to start doing it more because I believe in a God who raises the dead.

I like to throw my head back and laugh and lift my hands and jump around because I can't believe how amazing Jesus is and that I get to call him mine.

I like to meditate on heaven and the little moments of joy here that are only faint glimpses of my forever.

I like to pray for those who feel they can see only darkness in life, or that they are facing some insurmountable obstacle. I pray for the obstacle to be cleared and for the light to shine in the darkness.

I like to pray for the people in my classes who are enslaved to the idols of school and "success," that they will know the freedom of trusting the Father and not worrying about tomorrow.

I like to pray for you.