I don’t remember a time when I didn’t pray. It was never formal or rote, although there is certainly a place for that. God has been my constant companion from early childhood. We chat, and I hear His voice. No big deal.
It is easy to get stuck in words like God, Source, Spirit, Universe, or prayer and meditation. As you read, please substitute whatever words feel most comfortable to you.
Is God a He or a She or does God transcend gender? I think God is beyond all that we can imagine and surely transcends gender, but I grew up using male pronouns, capitalized. He knows what I mean.
Whatever your spiritual discipline is, I hope that you will give time to exploring and strengthening where you are and where you are going spiritually. I hope that prayer for you is quieting and restoring.
My prayer life has evolved over the last sixty years. Here’s where I am now.
There are times when I pour my heart out to God if there is something big going on, but for the most part, we keep short accounts. When I am talking through what is happening in my life with God, it is an exercise for me, not for Him. If He is God, I am not telling Him anything He doesn’t know.
Furthermore, if He is God then He doesn’t need me to tell Him what to do,
What happens when we pray for specifics, and they don’t happen? Does that weaken our faith? Big things to explore.
I no longer subscribe to the idea that if I don’t remember to tell God what He should do, it won’t happen, people will die, and that will be on me. That job used to keep me really busy, and I thought I was great at it. But then, God told me the role of
Keeping a journal allows me the freedom to express my thoughts, fears, joys, in one place. It also gives me a chronological record of where I was and how far I have come. God is welcome to read it.
However, I heartily believe in praying for people and situations. I pray for people a lot. I pray for peace like a river or clear direction. I pray for healing, but I don’t always know what that will ultimately be. When I do energetic healing work, I am praying I will be a vessel of healing energy, and I pray for my patient, listening for direction. I don’t spend time listing what needs to happen, because frankly, I don’t know. I’m alright with that.
The very act of listing all the things that need to happen and things that we want is stressful. Then we have to keep track of them, so we can know if it worked and then remind God, in case He is distracted and forgot. Whew! It wears me out just thinking about it.
Prayer for me is gratitude, respectfully sitting (walking, driving) with God. Prayer is being thankful for the many blessings in my life, the simple and sublime. A warm shower or incredible new grandnephews. Noticing the hand of God all around me in nature, in people, in circumstances. Giving Him a virtual high-five, saying, “I saw that, God.”
On those occasions when seemingly unconnected variables come together in miraculously divine ways, which happens a lot when you are paying attention, I have been known to pray, “Now you are just showing off.” He smiles.
I allow myself to be quiet with God. It is so hard to listen when I am talking or when my mind is whirling. I want to hear His voice. I want to know His direction.
Praying in this way takes a lot of pressure off me. It quiets my mind. I can be with my Creator. My body relaxes as I ease into the palm of His hand. Fear and anxiety melt away. Hope is renewed.
That is just where I am with prayer right now.
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