Looking for God’s Goodness in contemplation and prayer. The discipline of prayer.
I invite you to try following a prayer discipline for 10 minutes a day or so for a week, and then discuss your experience with your spiritual director or a prayer partner. How do you do this?
Simply set apart a specific time and place to “waste” a little time alone with yourself and God. What time of the day? When you pray and where will you pray?
Add to your particular time and special place a single focus. This can be an image, a word, a phrase of scripture, or a short meditative prayer that is repeated.
When distractions come or you feel anxious or sleepy, acknowledge the distraction, don’t fight it, then simply return to your image, phrase, or scripture.
Embrace the silence between the repetitions in prayer. This is how you create space for God to be present.
Sometimes within our sacred time and place and focus, God speaks a simple word for us to hear. Learn to listen to this still, small voice.
Many people who do this regularly eventually find that they don’t want to miss their prayer time even though it doesn’t emotionally satisfy them right away. They may be distracted throughout the whole ten minutes, but they keep going back to it. They say that “something is happening to me on a deeper level than my thinking.“
I too don’t always have wonderful thoughts or feelings when I pray. But I believe that something is happening because God is greater than my mind and heart. The larger mystery of prayer is greater than what I can grasp with my emotional senses or intellectual gifts. I trust that God is greater than me when I dwell – let myself be held- and that place of prayer. Eventually, when I do this I will live a very spiritual life.
Spiritual Direction, p 69 Henri Nouwen
Weekly Reflection Summary: Beautiful Hope.
Sunday. An Attitude. Valuing myself gives me an attitude of hope.
Monday. Weaver of Hope. Hope transforms my material body with Wisdom and leads me to a greater understanding of God.
Tuesday. Don’t Stop Believing. The feeling of hope lives deep in our bones.
Wednesday. Warm Heart. What melts the coldness in your heart?
Thursday. Breath of Life. Holy Spirit come, breathe life into me today.
Friday. Self Mastery. Resistance can open us up to deeper and more mature values.
Smitten With Goodness 