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...]
Praying – Exploring Different Types of Prayers – Breath Prayers
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...]
Praying – Exploring Different Types of Prayers – Prayer Quotes
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...]
Giving God my Entire Attention – Lectio Divina
“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes." Matthew 6:34 (The Message)Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now.My entire attention? You want it all? But I am so good at multi-tasking God. Couldn’t I just sort of listen, kind of pray, and pretend to fully love you and continue to work on my all important to-do list, cling to my worries, and fiddle with what I think is best for me?My entire attention? What would that feel like? Would it hurt me that much to let go of my ego and fully dive into Your presence?My entire attention? Divert my eyes from what I think is important – the shiny, the urgent, the busyness jumping up and down demanding my time? Look closely for You, Lord? My entire attention? If I did that I would have to let go of old habits, worldly desires, and comfortable ways. You may ask me to … [Read more...]
Journaling for Discernment
Keeping a journal is a spiritual practice that often helps enlighten and guide when you are discerning a new step in your life. Words are powerful. Words clarify, provide direction, and offer a way to sort through the junk to find the treasure.Several years ago I was in a dilemma. As county health commissioner, I no longer enjoyed the work that tipped more toward bioterrorism prevention than health promotion. My passion no longer lie with personnel and financial tensions overloaded with smallpox, plaque, and pandemic flu. I had the opportunity to retire, but needed to decide when. This is where my journal helped in my discernment. I charted my feelings, my indecisiveness, my hopes and dreams over a several year period. After much turmoil, even some missteps in the wrong direction, I decided on July 2006 as the date. I discovered something really odd though, several weeks after making my final decision.Rereading my journal, I jotted down these words TWO years before – “I think God … [Read more...]
Gibb’s Rules – God’s Rules – Spiritual Rules for Life
I enjoy watching NCIS. On this television show the main character Jethro Gibbs has rules for his team, such as always wear gloves at a crime scene and never mess with a marine’s coffee.God gives us rules to follow.Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Matthew 22:37-39 (NIV)When you think about it, most of us live by unspoken and unwritten rules. For example, always call your mother on Mother’s Day, don’t forget to say thank you, and look both ways before crossing a street. Some families have specific rules like don’t put the ketchup bottle on the Thanksgiving table (yes, we do follow that silly one at my home)Writing down your spiritual rules can be a powerful practice. A Rule for Life is a collection of guidelines for living. It can also be called a Way of Life. Its purpose is to help us keep our sense of … [Read more...]
Internal Non-Violence – Discovering My Violent Heart
I didn’t beat my children. I don’t own a gun. I’ve never even been arrested. But an article I read recently made me realize I have a violent heart. The thought made me uncomfortable. As a spiritual director I have learned to be aware of the movements within my spirit and this concept of having a violent heart resonated deep within me. What was God teaching me?Marie Beha wrote “Formation for Nonviolence” in the spring 2003 issue of Human Development. She asked the question in the formation of non-violence where do we start? Her answer is in the recognition that what goes on inside of us contributes to the culture of violence surrounding us.Reminds me of the song lyrics: Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.Beha writes, “Violence isn’t always noisy….How I respond to others, even to myself, reveals who and how I am. My morning might begin in violence as I smash the button of my ringing alarm clock, resentful of its shrill summons from still needed sleep. Getting into … [Read more...]
The Present Moment
You must have been warned against letting the golden hours slip by; but some of them are golden only because we let them slip by. ~James Matthew BarrieSpring is my favorite time of year. The bright colors, warming breezes, and digging my hands into the cool earth awaken me after a winter of hibernation. Driving home the other evening I noticed the pale hint of green dancing on the edges of the trees as the earth too slowly rises from its slumber. After a few warm days, the tight buds on the bushes in my front yard shake off their drowsiness unfurling their new leaves.Soon every bush and tree will be fully dressed for summer. I can’t wait.But why am I wishing away this early hint of spring? So often I whiz through the day barely noticing the emerging new life until it is fully here. For a change I pause and capture the inkling of things to come.As a ‘three’ on the Enneagram, I tend to live in the future - setting goals and planning my next step. I fail at living in and enjoying the … [Read more...]