Prayers of Adoration Let's explore different types of prayers beginning with prayers of adoration. How do you pray?  Often my prayers slip into comfortable routines, predictable patterns, yet prayer is all around us – like our breath.  So many different ways to talk with God are waiting to explore. The following is a part of a three-week series on prayer and its many forms.  Come explore with me ways to address God when words are inadequate and let’s get to know God better by spending time with Him. At first glance you may think thankfulness and adoration are the same, but there is a difference. Adoration is the outpouring of love, worship, honor, and praise to God. Richard Foster writes, ”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…In adoration we enter the rarefied air of selfless devotion. We ask for nothing but to cherish him. We seek … [Read more...]

How do you pray?  Often my prayers slip into comfortable routines, predictable patterns, yet prayer is all around us – like our breath.  So many different ways to talk with God are waiting to explore. The following is a part of a three-week series on prayer and its many forms.  Come explore with me ways to address God when words are inadequate and let’s get to know God better by spending time with Him.The more I pray with thankfulness, the more I realize the power in gratitude. I have read that love and gratitude are the two most powerful emotions for humans.“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, ‘thank you,’ that would suffice.” – Meister EckhartWe are taught from childhood to say thank you, but as I get older I have discovered I never can fully thank God enough for all the blessings from Him.Each night before sleep I pause and review the day: What am I most grateful for and what am I the least grateful for?To be honest when I first began this form of prayer, I expected … [Read more...]

How do you pray?  Often my prayers slip into comfortable routines, predictable patterns, yet prayer is all around us – like our breath.  So many different ways to talk with God are waiting to explore. The following is a part of a three-week series on prayer and its many forms.  Come explore with me ways to address God when words are inadequate and let’s get to know God better by spending time with Him.We make prayer too complicated and difficult at times. God wants us as we are – coming to Him in open honesty, with our defenses down and our ego set aside.  I like what C. S. Lewis wrote, “The prayer preceding all prayers is ‘May it be the real I who speak. May it be the real Thou that I speak to.’”Simple prayer is coming to God just as we are, with all our faults, problems, and imperfections. We tell God how frustrated we are, angry or discouraged. Richard Foster says, “Sometimes this prayer is called the Prayer of Beginning Again.”We are not alone with praying this way. The Bible is … [Read more...]

How do you pray?  Often my prayers slip into comfortable routines, predictable patterns, yet prayer is all around us – like our breath.  So many different ways to talk with God are waiting to explore. The following is a part of a three-week series on prayer and its many forms.  Come explore with me ways to address God when words are inadequate and let’s get to know God better by spending time with Him.The Bibles teaches us to “Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17)   How do we do this?One type of prayer that has helped Christians across the ages to fulfill this command is the breath prayerA breath prayer is a very short prayer that can be said in one breath and repeated throughout the day.  It is an ancient form of prayer, found in writings as early as the second century. The prayer communicates a sense of nearness with trust and dependency on God.Perhaps the best-known breath prayer is called the Jesus Prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner." This … [Read more...]

How do you pray?  Often my prayers slip into comfortable routines, predictable patterns, yet prayer is all around us – like our breath.  So many different ways to talk with God are waiting to explore. The following is a part of a three-week series on prayer and its many forms.  Come explore with me ways to address God when words are inadequate and let’s get to know God better by spending time with Him.What is prayer?Prayer has been defined in many ways. Here are a few great quotes describing prayer to start our series:“True, whole prayer is nothing but love.” St. Augustine“A man prayed, and at first he thought that prayer was talking. But he became more and more quiet until in the end he realized that prayer is listening.” Soren Kierkegaard“Prayer fastens the soul to God.”  Julian of Norwich“For prayer is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God.” Saint Teresa"To pray is to work, to work is to pray." 
Motto of the Benedictine Order"Praying is simply a two-way … [Read more...]