Pray Continually!

Why is it so much easier to worry than to pray? Maybe it's human nature - for sure my human nature. One of my new year's goals this year was to improve in my prayer life - especially considering that this is the age my children are learning to pray, I felt I really needed to step up in this area myself. I especially wanted to focus on the aspect of praying continually - I want my children to know they can come to their Heavenly Father with anything and everything - that He sees every concern and is interested in our daily lives. This has been quite a challenge for me, seeing as I generally resort to worrying rather than praying. However, I truly feel the Holy Spirit is working on this area with me as several times in the last few weeks, as I've been worrying about something, I feel the prompt to PRAY instead of WORRY. Revolutionary! Although it really shouldn't be. Here are some of the things I've been worrying about in the last couple days that have turned into prayer...

-my children waking each other up super early (as in 5:30 - way too early for mom to wake up happy): Pray!- that their fears/discomfort will be stilled and they will sleep peacefully, waking up with healthy, rested bodies.
-concern over a church member's estranged relationship with his wife, and frustration over the way he's handling it: Pray! - that God will work in them to love and forgive one another, and that He will show them His will.
-worry over where we'll have the national family camp this year: Pray! - that God will lead us to a place that will meet our physical needs so we can minister to the spiritual needs of families around Bolivia.
-concern over weird diapers (this may sound strange, or gross to you, but after being through countless rounds of amoebas with Eliana, any strange looking or strange smelling diaper gets me worried): Pray! - for the health of our family, that we would be wise in our lifestyle and so be able to help prevent these things, and that, should these battles with stomach yuck come, the treatments would be able to do the trick.
-worry over unknown budget changes: Pray! - that God would give us and our sponsoring church wisdom and we handle our finances.
-daily team interactions and upcoming team retreat: Pray! - that God would continue to work in our team, that we would live out Col. 3:12-16 in order to better demonstrate His love and glory in this place.
-my children's individual fears (Michaela's fear of swimming now after a scary experience in the States, Eliana's fear of dogs): Pray! - that God would give me wisdom as a parent as I help my children overcome these fears, and that He would protect them from physical harm, and that He would give them courage to face every aspect of life.
-disappointment over a new friendship that is ending that hardly had a chance to begin: Pray! - that God would bless Kate Callahan and her family and their ministry as they move to La Paz, and that God would provide relationships in my life that would bring Him glory and meet my needs and the needs of others.
-thoughts about the possibility of starting a women's prayer group: Pray! - that God would give me wisdom as I consider the logistics of beginning this, and that when it begins, that He would use it to deepen His relationship with many women, and our relationships as sisters in Christ.