February 2011

Where does prayer fit in your life? What does it look like? Sound like? Do you stop to listen? ‘Speak LORD, for your servant is listening.’ 1 Samuel 3:10 And if you do how or where do you listen?

Perhaps it would be helpful to remember that prayer is always in response to God. God calls us to pray and we respond. There is this dynamic that we have as humans to find one way to do things and yet prayer is as unique and individual as each of us are.

Individual style is the key, finding a way that frees you from whatever keeps you from responding.

Some will walk, some will run. Some will sit, some will kneel, some will lie down. Some will close their eyes, some with eyes wide open, some with music, some in silence. Some with poetry, some with scripture, random or intentional. Some will draw, some will sing, some will shout.

Some will read a Psalm or recite from memory. Some will look at a photograph; some will picture it in their mind. Some will follow a star; some will sit in the dark. Some will quiet their minds; some will close their eyes and breathe.

Some will go fishing, some will go sewing. Some will busy their hands, some will clasp them, some will raise their hands, some will bow their heads, some will look to the sky. Some will seek solitude; some will seek a crowded place.

The point of course is to practice. For only by practicing will you find ways that work. And by that I mean, finding a way that simplifies your prayer life. Becoming aware of the relationship between yourself and God, takes practice and nurturing, just like any relationship. The decision to pray is the decision to let God into your life at this moment; it is after all what we all seek. It is after all what God desires for you, to be in relationship.