Let us pray…
Earlier this week, I took part in a synchroblog on the topic of prayer. My contribution was called “Pray without ceasing“. This synchroblog was put together by Cindy, Erin, and Lyn. Over 40 people participated in this synchroblog, and I was very challenged and encouraged by reading their posts.
If you are not familiar with the concept, a synchroblog occurs when different bloggers publish posts on their individual blogs about the same topic, theme, or concpet. Thus, the topic for this synchroblog was “How do you pray?” This is my second synchroblog (see the post “Here I am to worship“). I completely enjoyed the entire process of synchroblogging, and I would recommend it to other bloggers. It is a great way to get to know other bloggers as you are all thinking about and writing about the same subject.
If you did not read all of the contributions to the prayer synchroblog, Cindy has compiled a list of all of the contributions and a few words about each one in a blog post called “Synchroblog Participants-thank you“. Here are her summaries:
Cindy Bryan “I’m waiting to find a groove again – a prayer groove in which I don’t doubt my own sincerity.”
Lyn Hallewell “I like the fact that there is no agenda with God and I. I love it when he just shows up, makes his presence known to me.”
Erin Word “Only in my nakedness will I become united with God.”
Rick Meigs “The vast majority of my prayers are short, spontaneous as the thought comes to mind“
Alan Knox “life does not interrupt God’s conversation with me; instead, life enters into God’s conversation with me as a third conversation partner.”
Julie Clawson “I have learned that there is meaning in the waiting. And so I wait in silence.”
Heather “The problem is that other than in these circumstances, there was no need for God to really enter my head.”
(Heather’s Husband) Prayer Synchroblog II
Lydia “God and I are still on speaking terms, but there’s nothing flowery or scripted about it.”
Che Vachon “I learned that I couldn’t make Him go away.”
John Smulo “Trying to follow this type of advice in the past has simply made me feel like I was a crappy Christian.”
Mary “If we pushed the right buttons, God would be obligated to perform. Prayer was presented as a way to get things done.”
Paul Mayers “i’m beginning to find prayer is sometimes conversation, sometimes request, sometimes questioning, sometimes sulking, sometimes begging and sometimes i come to the point of stopping praying my way for my things.”
Sonja Andrews “So, my prayer life looks nothing like what I was taught and I think it could be better. But … for right now, it’s what it is.”
Jon Peres “the language of the heart. i believe it is the true language the divine speaks, but we have forgotten how to speak it.”
Paul Walker …held a worship event on the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builder that incorporated creative prayer times
Susan Barnes “The unknown is always a little frightening. And in this case, the stakes are high.”
Patti Blount “So, I guess I would say that I pray more courageously than I used to because they are prayers that involve the inner work of His Hand.”
Brother Maynard “Could it be that God is not found in the whirlwind, not in the fire, not in the earthquake… and sometimes not even in the whisper. Might he sometimes be found in the silence?“
Glenn Hagar “These things have driven me to honest prayer. I don’t think that it is very pretty nor eloquent prayer, just honest.”
Nate Peres “I pray almost recklessly. Divulging anything that comes to mind.”
Barry Taylor “Prayer at its best is simply the verbal expression of a loving relationship.”
Rhonda Mitchell “That lipstick started to give them back their humanity.”
Grace “I’m still learning to pray, but for now I’m going to put away the books and let the Holy Spirit be my Teacher.”
Lew A “I do not believe in a legalistic pattern for speaking to God.”
Jonathan Hallewell “by far the greatest motivation to pray to God in my life, is when God initiates the conversation.”
Deb “Um… Uh… God? Yeah. I opened up my prayer journal to write and then the cat horked.”
Jim “Yet if we are supposed to have a relationship with God through prayer, how many relationships do you have where you say the exact same things to the other person at the exact same times of day, every single time you talk with them?“
Barb “God was seated, leaning forward, not speaking, just breathing and listening for my breath.”
Doug Jones “it is the Jesus Prayer and Praying the Hours that inform and form my prayer life.”
Pam Hogeweide “I pray with art, with images and color that reflect outloud the embers that still burn in my bones. I pray with paint, and glue, and scraps of paper that I collage together.“
Rachel Warwick “I want to learn to pray like me, not like a pretentious formalised version of me.“
Jonathan Brink “I honestly didn’t know what I was going to write, other than my thoughts on prayer when just as I began to write, my 5 year old son came up to me…“
Andy “So…how do I pray? I am finding that the “how” isn’t what matters.“
Makeesha Fisher “There is a divine mystery that takes place when I simply acknowledge that God is near – – and that is ‘enough’“.
Cynthia Clack “When I questioned why Steve had to be the one to die, my feelings were cut short with a curt, ‘we don’t ask God why.'”
Barbara Legere “Here are five things that have caused me to NOT pray in the past.”
Joy “What does prayer look like now, in my post-church, post-patriarchy, post-evangelical, post-formulaic life?“
Robby McAlpine “My ultimate goal is that prayer would be as natural and instinctive as breathing. I’m not quite there yet!“
Larry “Talking with God is no problem. Asking for things is a little harder. Asking for things for someone else is very strange.”
Rick Stilwell “I’m conflicted in some of my thoughts this morning on what prayer is and what I need to be living out because of it.”
I read through alot of them, too – good stuff to ponder what we’re supposed to do with “prayer”. Good pulls on the quotes 🙂