Sometimes I forget to spend joyful time with God

Rejoice in the Lord, always, and again I say, Rejoice. Phillipians 4:4

(Thank you Dr Hudson for searing this verse into our brains. Wish you were still there reminding us. Purhaps I should pay it forward. But from you it never seemed trite or repetitive. Every time I heard your voice, I remebered the Joy of the Lord.) 

Our Lord said that the faith of a child could work miracles. (paraphrased) I remember the days that, when as a child I spoke often to God and it was about happy things. "God you made this so beautiful." or "Kittens sure are soft." I still notice things that make my heart sing, but I don't thank Him as much. Maybe because it seems old hat, like He's heard that from me before.  But I'll bet that as much as I still love the majesty of His beautiful things, He still loves to hear me say that I love them. Even though He knows my heart. 
My husband is a person who likes to hear, "I Love You," in words not in deed, and I am the opposite.  I like to notice that he loves me in deed not in words.  Not that I want him to stop saying it, but, to me, the two must mesh.  Words seem idle to me, almost like a lie if at the same time something he has done has hurt me. You can't cover up hurt with "I love you."  So I guess I carry that same attitude into prayer.  I won't say, "Lord I love you and the things you have made," if I feel at odds with God.  It seems fake. But it isn't fake.
How many times has my husband said that no matter he still loves me and whether I find it hard to believe or not doesn't change the fact. And he will say he likes to hear it himself, and I am not one to say it often enough.  I miss out on joyful time that just saying "I love you," would bring to our relationship, because it would please him to hear it.  The same would be true of my prayer relationship.  If I would just get back into the habit of saying something like, "I love that you did this," to both, I think it would bring back a childlikeness to my conversations.
It would add balance to the hurting side of things.  I used to teach my Sunday School classes that balance was what God was after. A place in the middle is where God always wants us to be.  This analagy can be analyzed to death, but suffice it to say, that when there is a lot of pain there must also be a lot of joy to offset it.  And that is the side of relationships we always have to work on. 
When I am around my newest grandson, Ryder, I forget most of the pain in the lives around me and in mine. I just enjoy him.  It is that way with new love, especially when you are young, or newly born again into God's family. The joy outweighs the pain in life. It comes down to where we place our focus I guess. And to acheive the proper balance, we cannot become ignorant of the pain, or hide in humor or having fun all the time to block the pain. And somehow, when we come at the suffering and pain, from the joy side, our faith is strengthened I think.  It is easier to believe that miracles can happen, or that when they don't that God is still in the middle of everything and still in control. 

Life is full of the painful, stressful stuff, and I am so glad I have God to turn to be able to ask for help from a more powerful source.  But "Glad" is the word I should focus on, to give balance. I can be glad when I pray about the sad things, because He is a more powerful source.

Lord, I often send up prayers for the people needing your blessing, and I forget to spend a few minutes just sharing my love for you. Please forgive me.
In gladness of heart, I thank you, not just for the beauty in my life, but, even when so much is happening of the sad things in life, I thank you for just being you. And for being there for me. Always being there for me. I thank you, for the joy side of our relationship. I love you Lord for just being who you are.
And for all the hurting people who ask us to pray for them, I add this to my specific prayer for them - Lord, give them Joy amidst their sorrow, and Peace that passes understanding. Lord, help us to rejoice. AMEN

Purhaps, Jesus went to the Garden as a reminder that prayer is a place to rejoice.