In September we have been looking how to pray when it is difficult. This is all part of the Year of Prayer here on Healthy Spirituality. You may find the previous posts about praying during difficult times here and here. I love chewing on great bits of wisdom found in the wise words from others. Here are 10 thought-provoking and inspirational quotes about prayer that I hope will help you in hard times. Find one or two of your favorites and tug them into your journal and/or Bible. May these words bubble up and find you again just when you need them. Our prayers may be awkward. Our attempts may be feeble. But since the power of prayer is in the one who hears it and not in the one who says it, our prayers do make a difference" Max Lucado ****** Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts. Mother Teresa ****** I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming … [Read more...]
Praying When You Don’t Like What You See – Guest Post – Kelly O’Dell Stanley
As we continue to explore the spiritual practice of prayer this year, this month the word "difficult" frames our prayers. If you missed last week's post, you may want to check it here. I have so enjoyed bringing some different voices to Healthy Spirituality through guest posts. I am delighted to introduce you to my friend, Kelly O'Dell Stanley. We met at a writers conference eons ago- we were both very green as writers - and I have been so blessed to watch her now blossom into a published writer and writer conference speaker. Be sure to check out her books and her blog! Here is a little more about Kelly: Kelly O’Dell Stanley is the author of Praying Upside Down and Designed to Pray. A graphic designer who writes (or is it a writer who designs?), she's also a redhead who’s pretty good at controlling her temper, a believer in doing everything to excess, and a professional wrestler of doubt and faith. She blogs at kellyostanley.com and calls small-town Indiana her … [Read more...]
Making Prayer Too Difficult
Are you guilty of making prayer too difficult? I know I do at times. Okay, most times. I was thinking the other day how I have been walking with you this entire year, discovering, exploring, and tasting prayer. Though the adventure has been rich and full, how am I going to remember to "do" all these prayers, these wonderful "techniques" and of course, do them correctly so I earn an A in the course? I know. I know. I know that isn't what God wants. Me neither. In September, a word to frame our traveling with prayer will be "difficult." Today is reflecting on making prayer too difficult and next week will be when it is too difficult to pray. Earlier in the summer, I updated a free prayer resources called "The Prayer Tool Box. " This pdf has lots of digital and analog ideas for spending your time with God. Click the button at the bottom of this post to get yours if you didn't get one in June. Making Prayer Too Difficult K.I.S.S. – Keep It Simple, Sweetie! Sometimes the best … [Read more...]
10 Simple Ways to Strengthen Your Prayer Life – Guest Post Rachel Larkin
We have been exploring the spiritual practice of prayer throughout 2018. I invited fellow writer Rachel Larkin to share her thoughts on ways to strengthen your prayer life. So glad to have you here, Rachel! Rachel Larkin is an author, speaker, chartered accountant and home-school mum. She lives in New Zealand with her husband and their three young adult sons. She is the author of Simple Prayer: The Guide for Ordinary People Seeking the Extraordinary https://www.rachellarkin.com/book/simple-prayer/ . She has a passion to see believers growing in faith and prayer as well as developing their potential for Jesus. She blogs at https://www.rachellarkin.com/. To find out more on seeing God turn up in your daily life, Rachel has a free eBook available for download - The Untold Story: 7 Steps to Seeing God in the Midst of your Real Messy Life https://www.rachellarkin.com/book/untold-story/ Thank you for sharing your words and wisdom with us: 10 Simple Ways to Strengthen Your … [Read more...]
Intercessory Prayer – Praying for Others – Even the Difficult Ones
As we continue our exploration of prayer this year, last week we began exploring intercessory prayer or praying for others. I have been rereading and pondering Phillip Yancey's book on Prayer during this year. Praying for others affects us in powerful ways as much as it affects others. Here are some of his thoughts on Intercessory Prayer: "When I pray for another person, I am praying for God to open my eyes so that I can see that person as God does, and then enter into the stream of love that God already directs towards that person….Bringing them into God's presence changes my attitude toward them and ultimately affects our relationship…Prayer allows me to see others as God sees them and me: as uniquely flowed and uniquely gifted bearers of God's image. I begin seeing them through Jesus' eyes, as beloved children who the Father longs to embrace." Nice image to hold when praying for others. But sometimes intercessory prayer is difficult: "Frank Laubach…describes how he sought to … [Read more...]
Intercessory Prayer
Intercessory prayer is simply praying for others. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote "Intercessory prayer is the purifying bath into which the individual and the fellowship must enter every day." This type of prayer is a form of loving the other. I imagine lifting people into God's light and love. This powerful prayer practice can be as a pointed, persistent pleading on behalf of someone else for a deep need. Some intercessory prayers are general: “Lord I pray for those forgotten or those suffering in such and such country.” Or they can be specific: “Lord draw Tom closer to you and give him strength to get through this difficult time.” Often I simply say, “Lord you know best what she needs today. Help her know your love.” Jane Vennard teaches about another form of intercessory prayer is called “arrow prayers.” It is like holding a bow, pulling the string back, and letting the arrow fly. This form is spontaneous — the times that prayers for others are pulled right out of me, such … [Read more...]
Praising God through the Prayer of Adoration
One type of prayer we haven't discussed yet in our pilgrimage into the different types of prayer this summer is the prayer of adoration. How do we response to God's unending, outrageous, overwhelming outpouring of love? God who pursues each of us as if there were only one of us. The One who knows our name. Knows the number of hairs on our head. Who loves us so much he sent is only son to save us. How else can we respond but by adoration? "Adoration is the spontaneous yearning of the heart to worship, honor magnify and bless God…In one sense, adoration is not a special form of prayer, for all true prayer is saturated with it, It is the air in which prayer breathes, the sea in which prayer swims…We ask for nothing but to cherish him. We focus on nothing but his goodness." Richard Foster. How to Build Adoration into our Prayers As ego-centered children of God, we must intentionally learn, then practice the prayer of adoration. Like reminding our kids to say please and thank … [Read more...]
Have You Practiced the Covenant Prayer?
In the series as we explore different types of prayers, I have introduced prayer practices that are part of my regular time with God. Ones I do frequently like the prayer of examen and breath prayers. But this week I am featuring one I didn't know much about until I researched it more. The Covenant Prayer. I think many of us may have tried versions of this prayer but if you are like me, I never dug deeper into the details about it. The Covenant Prayer In Richard Foster's book, Prayer – he gives this prayer a full chapter. A covenant prayer is in essence the prayer we may say at baptism, confirmation, or an ordination/consecration. This prayer bubbles up inside my heart often on silent retreats too as a recommitment to God. We make a covenant with God and pledge our obedience to him. Our full obedience. Read and ponder this paragraph from Richard Foster: "We respond to the heavenly overtures of God's love first through the Covenant of Holy Obedience. Without reservation we … [Read more...]