Many of us cringe when prayer is mentioned, mostly because we are so inconsistent at it and feel guilty for not “measuring up.” (If we were honest, we’d admit how bored we are with it.) There’s so much more to prayer than we realize and perhaps starting at a new place can help us. It will take some training, or re-training. Firstly, prayer must begin with something more than just our petitions. Of course, it’s appropriate to approach God with petitions but our prayer life is woefully incomplete and without real power if we limit it to the spoken word. If we think of prayer as “loving attention to God,” it can take an infinite number of forms, depending on our personalities and the need of the moment. We don’t have to use eloquent words; in fact, we don’t need words at all.
Thus prayer must begin with the desire just to be with God. The deepest level of communication is not communication but communion. It is wordless.
One thing for sure…it will take practice. It will take time to learn to commune with God on a beyond-words level. It will take time to train ourselves to not require that “something happen” and give up our need to control the situation. It will take time to push beyond the distractions and noises of our minds. I think one thing we will need to learn is to resist the urge to judge our experience as right or wrong. “I’m awful at this sort of thing!,” or “I didn’t get anything out of it.” We need to remind ourselves it’s just to be with God and give up our expectations how that might look.
When and where can you create some space in the busy-ness your my day to just “be” with God.
Gail Johnsen 