Last night, I sat outside enjoying the spring evening. The smell of lavender was in the air...maybe because I have a huge lavender bush in my backyard. :0) It was a moment of peace in the midst of a busy day. I was reading a book called A Tree Full of Angels: Seeing the Holy in the Ordinary. I love that title....the idea of seeing the holy in the ordinary. I think I like it so much because 95% of my life is lived in the ordinary. And the thought that I can be looking for the holy in the mundane things of life is so encouraging. But, back to prayer. The author, Macrina Wiederkehr say this:
"So how do I pray? I listen. I talk. I weep. I am silent. I am embraced by the beloved. I gaze with reverence. I wonder and adore. I share my needs. I have tea with God. I give gifts. I receive gifts. I give thanks and I say I'm sorry. I scream. I get angry. I show God all of my life, including my very divided heart. I relax. I'm at home. Sometimes I read a poem or tell God a story. Sometimes I dance. God loves stories and poems and dances. Sometimes I get a bit dramatic with God."
This is how I want to pray; to pray with all my heart, with all my emotion, with all of who I am..in transparency, with honesty.
Today, take time to think about how you pray. Do you have a set pattern? Is it controlled and predictable? Maybe God is inviting you to share everything with Him...the good, the bad and the ugly. 'Cause that is beautiful...that we can be who we really are in His presence and still know He loves us.
Peace,Deb
And...thank you to Carmen, Bobbi, Carol and Kristen for being willing to share their thoughts. You all are an encouragement to me. If you haven't checked out the 'comments' section, please do. We can all be an encouragement to one another.
Friday, May 11, 2007
prayer ~ again
Posted by deb at 8:06 AM
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2 comments:
Deb,
I absolutely love that quote "...I listen. I talk. I weep..." Most of the time, in my prayers, I spend talking,bla, bla, bla, bla. When I paused this past week, long enough to let Him get a word in, it was beautiful, I have spent time just weeping, just tears flowing, peaceful tears of pain leaving me making more room for God's love in. Sometimes (okay, most times) I am so busy being the control freak, that I forget that I can be "a bit dramatic with God" and that He created me to be dramatic. After all, isn't that what prayer time is? Time to be angry, time to worship, time to love, time to be loved, time to be sad, time to be joyous, time to laugh,time to weep, time to be loud and silly with God, time to be silent, and time to totally be yourself, no "Sunday Morning I'm at church face on". So today, my prayer time will be what it will be, I will surrender and go where "The Big Guy" wants to go today. Who knows? I may read a poem, or even write a poem, laugh out loud, cry some more, or maybe even do a little jig, just for Him. Just don't stop by and peek in my windows! :)
Well, I hope this isn't too long and thank you again Deb for the awesome blogsite!
Love ya' and blessings to you!
Carol
Deb,
What a wonderful quote. To me that is how God wants us to pray. He know us better than anyone else and yet we tried to "hide" our feelings and emotions from Him. How this must make Him laugh. To pray without ceasing is to pray this way with every feeling and emotion God created in us. How that must make Him smile. What a lovely way to live our life.
Blessings,
Lisa
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