21 Days of Prayer/Journaling - Day 12 - "Habits"

Today's question is, "Have you ever felt like making a habit of prayer is difficult?"

What do I know about habits? There are good habits and bad habits. Good habits are hard to acquire while bad habits seem to form easily. For example, it is easy to eat the wrong kinds of foods and sit on the couch to watch all of my favorite TV shows. However, it is difficult to eat healthy and exercise.

I have given up many bad habits in my life. Some of the more serious habits I have had to break were smoking cigarettes and giving up caffeine. I haven't smoked a cigarette in well over 10 years. However, when I did smoke, I was smoking up to a pack a day. I remember deciding that I was going to quit, but then I had to figure out what to do with my breaks at work. I started calling my sister every day at the same time of day. Eventually she asked me why I was calling her every day. I told her that I was trying to quit smoking and she said I could call her as much as I needed. It was great to have that support!

Caffeine was a lot harder to give up than smoking was. I have stayed away from caffeinated beverages since October of last year. When I was sixteen I found a lump in my left breast about the size of a quarter. It was discovered to be a fibrocyst. Since then I have been plagued with Fibrocystic Breast Condition. For some reason, caffeine makes the condition worse. However, I continued to drink my coffee, tea, pop, and energy drinks. One day a very good friend of mine called me because she was very stressed out. She has the same condition as I do, but found a lump that concerned her doctors. She waited to get it looked at because lumps were a normal part of her life. It ended up being a benign growth, but it really got me thinking about how caffeine affects my own health. I gave up caffeine cold turkey. Although it has been 8 months, I still crave a hot cup of coffee in the mornings.

There are some good habits that I have learned to develop over the years, as well. Although I'm not an exercise freak, I have made running a habit. I enjoy it and I crave it when I haven't run in several days. I have a habit of putting on my seat belt every time I get into a car. I put my seat belt on even if I am moving my car from one end of a parking lot to another. Looking back, both of those habits were formed out of learning a hard lesson. Running is part of the lesson that I have to exercise to be healthy. Putting on my seat belt was learned after being in a car accident while not wearing a seat belt.

So, why is it so hard to learn good habits? Is it our rebellious nature that makes us continue to do self-destructive things?  And how can I make talking to God a habit? I have often thought about what I would do after these 21 days. Will I continue to talk to God and allow Him to speak to me? Or will I just close my journal and only talk to God out of necessity. I hope I don't. I don't want talking to God to turn out like the habits of wearing a seat belt or running. I don't want to learn to lean on God just because I get into a crisis. I want to have a daily conversation with God so, that when a crisis comes, talking to Him will be second nature.