What If Thirty Seconds Could Change the Way You Pray?

I am, by nature, a "get to the point" kind of person. If I need something, I say so. No preamble. No small talk. Just give me the solution, and let's move on. This is probably why, for years, my prayer life sounded a little like a drive-through order: "Hi, Lord, I'll take healing for this headache, provision for that bill, and can you supersize the patience, please? Thanks, bye."

I never once considered that I might be skipping a step.

Then I started noticing something as I read through my Bible. Over and over, in the same breath, Scripture pairs two words: prayer and supplication. Solomon uses the combo repeatedly in his temple dedication prayer in 1 Kings 8. Daniel uses it in his famous prayer of repentance. Paul uses it in Ephesians and again in Philippians. And nearly every single time, prayer comes first. Supplication follows.

That is not an accident. That is a pattern.

Dana Rongione 08/05/2026 Dana Rongione 08/05/2026

Thankful in the Dark

I've heard the story of Daniel in the lion's den approximately four thousand times, give or take. Flannel-graph versions, Sunday school coloring pages, VBS skits—I've seen it all. I could probably narrate it in my sleep. And yet, just this week, I was reading through Daniel 6 when six words leapt off the page and stopped me cold.

"...and gave thanks before his God." (Daniel 6:10)

Now, wait. Hold on just a minute. How did I miss that?

Let's back up and remember what was happening at that precise moment. The other presidents and princes, who were not fond of Daniel, had just convinced King Darius to sign an iron-clad, unbreakable law: pray to anyone other than the king for the next thirty days, and you get tossed to the lions. No exceptions. No appeals. No loopholes.

Daniel knew about the law. The very next verse tells us so:

Dana Rongione 20/03/2026 Dana Rongione 20/03/2026

Are You Sleeping Through the Night?

My smartwatch and I have a complicated relationship.

Every morning, I roll over, bleary-eyed, and check my sleep score. And every morning, that little device has the nerve to tell me exactly how badly I failed at something I've been doing my whole life: sleeping. Honestly, you'd think I'd have gotten the hang of it by now.

Here's how the scoring works. I can earn 50 points for getting a full 8 hours. I can earn 30 more if I go to bed at my set bedtime of 9 p.m. And I can earn up to 20 points based on how many times I wake up during the night, not just a little shift or a sigh, but a full-on, heart-rate-changing, get-out-of-bed kind of awakening.

That last category? That's where things get embarrassing.

On more than one occasion, I have scored a big, fat zero on my interruption score. Zero! You know what that means?

Looking for a specific topic or Scripture? Try the search feature:

Looking for a specific devotion? Try the archive:

What If Thirty Seconds Could Change the Way You Pray?

Thankful in the Dark

Are You Sleeping Through the Night?

Don't Forget to Subscribe!

Thank you!

Dana Rongione