I Was Praying For You While Shaving My Legs

(Fall 2011)

I know the title of this devotion sounds more like a title for a country song but it’s really more of a theme for the start of my day.  As a mother of five children (ages 22, 18, 13, 11 and 9) my days are full.  I’ve learned to make use of my time, especially time alone, of which there is precious little.

I homeschool our three youngest children while our first born is off to her final year of college and our second-born is off to her senior year of high school.  My days begin at 6:30 when my husband of twenty-five years wakes me up after brewing a pot of coffee prepared with freshly ground coffee beans.  I offer up a brief and barely coherent prayer before I get out of bed. Some mornings it is simply, “Lord, please give me the energy to get up and get busy”.  I am not a morning person and I never have been.  However, since days typically begin in the morning, I try to adapt.

After the covers are off and my feet hit the floor, I beat a path to a hot shower. My “shower prayer time” began here, years ago, when our children were very young. The shower was the only place I was ever really alone at that time. Sure, there were times when a little hand would reach around the shower curtain and peek in or toss a baby doll in with me; but for the most part I was alone. As a mom of young children I learned to be creative in finding time to pray and the shower just made sense.  Although, I must admit, I feared it was a little odd.  For years I kept my shower prayer time a secret.  Until one day I was talking with a friend and spilled the beans.  I was seeking to encourage her and told her I had been praying for her that very morning-in the shower. My exact words were, “I was praying for you while I was shaving my legs”.  For a split second there was silence before she erupted into laughter.  I was relieved.  Then I owned up to the fact that my prayer closet was really a bathtub. We both agreed that “I was praying for you while shaving my legs” would indeed, make a great title for a country song. We even added a second line that went something like this, “I prayed a little more while frying bacon and eggs”. 

Since that time I’ve come to find out that I’m not that odd (OK, at least in this case) at all.  Many women I know have turned their shower into a prayer closet. A friend of mine even keeps a prayer list hanging in her shower in a waterproof sleeve. I think that’s genius! If you’re struggling with finding time alone with God, I highly recommend the shower. I honestly do. A morning shower is refreshing but adding in some heartfelt prayer time is priceless.

Please know I am not being irreverent and make no apologies for my suggestion. God knit us together inside our mothers. He created us and He knows us. We can come to Him at any time-even in the shower!

Ephesians 6:18

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

Wishing you all a refreshing start to your day!