Hello. It's been quite some time since I've posted here.
There's a concern I have, and it has to do with prayer. I would like to grow in how I spend my time with God.
For the longest time, my prayers have been pretty scripted. Basically, before going to bed, I would say: "Father, thanks for everything, please help anyone who needs it, in Jesus' name amen." But that's just...well, I figured it might be a good idea for me to branch out from that.
So, as far as 'thanks for everything', I've been trying to list some things I'm thankful for. As for 'please help anyone who needs it', I've been trying to list some people and what issues they might need help with. For instance, if a friend's child is having a medical procedure, I'll specifically pray for that to go well.
But when I'm listing things to be thankful for, or people who need prayer and the issues I'm praying for, I tend to worry I'll miss something. For instance, I might pray for so many people with issues I'm praying about, and then end before praying for someone else that needs it. Or I might thank God for so many things, but leave something out that I should be thanking Him for.
This, coupled with the fact that sometimes I'll lose my train of thought. I'll be praying, then my thoughts wander a bit, then I'll realize my thoughts have wandered and I'll have to figure out where I was in my prayer. Or sometimes I'll end a prayer, and just as I'm doing so remember something else I was going to pray about, so backtrack, or fear I might have forgotten something, and once I say what I think I'd forgotten, I realize I actually had included it. Sometimes I'll repeat things to make sure I've included it (this may have to do with the fact that I tend to be OCD). Basically, when I try to branch out from my aforementioned 'scripted' prayer, it gets rather disorganized.
Now, often I'll pray throughout the day, if something comes up, like I'll hear something on the news that needs praying about, or I'll hear a siren outside and I'll pray that whatever emergency the siren is headed towards turns out okay, things like that. That tends to be quick, yet specific, not disorganized.
It's when I go to actually spend time with God, talking to Him, that my thoughts get disorganized, or I'll worry I'm failing to include something that needs included, etc.
Does anyone have any advice on how I might improve in regards to prayer?