Prayer everywhere

I hate changing the toilet roll.

I don’t know why; it just seems the most tedious of chores.

A few years ago I discovered that one of my friends had the same problem. It took us deeper into friendship, that connection over something so mundane. I now think of her every time the evil hour approaches.

As I reluctantly changed the roll this morning, and she came once again to mind, I thought, “I should pray for her when this happens.” So I did.

As it happens, she and her family have a big change on the horizon, so it was an even more appropriate prayer prompt (though as far as I know she is embracing this change much more positively!).

That led me to think of other everyday objects that have some connection with specific people: the kitchen knives that remind me of a certain friend, the plates that bring to mind members of my extended family, the socks I bought while shopping with someone else. Paperclips always remind me of sitting in Dad’s office chair, when I was a child, and making long strings of the ones in his desk tidy.

So I’m making a new resolution. When the things I see, touch or use remind me of a person, I’m going to take that as a hint to pray for them, just for a minute, for whatever God brings to mind.

What prompts for prayer do you see everywhere?