call to prayer

Kyrgyzstan is a Muslim country.
There is a Mosque within walking distance of Deborah's apartment.
Several times a day, if we are paying attention, we hear the call to prayer.

I have had various thoughts about this-
wondering what it would be like to practice a religion where there was a call to prayer at set times throughout the day;
wondering if the Christian faith would benefit from adopting this practice;
wondering if the only reason the people pray is because they are reminded to or required to;
wondering why the calls to prayer I have heard sound like a lament.

The past few days I have realized that most people have a call to prayer.

Some hear the call to prayer when they sit down to eat.
Many children are taught to say the following before they eat:
"God is great,
God is good,
God we thank you for our food.
Amen."
(One of my children had his own spin on this;
"good food, good meat, good Lord, let's eat.)

Others hear the call to prayer before they go to sleep.
Sometimes children are taught to pray:
"Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
and if I should die before I wake,
I pray thee Lord my soul to take."
(And we wonder why kids have nightmares.)

Some hear the call to prayer only when they or someone they love are:
in trouble,
ill,
hurting,
worried,
afraid,
threatened
or the recipient of bad news.

Some hear the call to prayer when they see something beautiful:
a sunrise,
a sunset,
the ocean,
the prairie alive with wildflowers,
the mountains,
a loved one's face.

I think anything that calls us to communicate with the One who loves us and created us is a good thing.

I think I have missed many calls to prayer because I have been too busy or too stubborn to listen.

I have decided to ask God to do whatever He must to open my ears so that I might hear Him when He calls me to prayer.