Words

 

One of the best books I have read recently on prayer is Brian McLaren's Naked Spirituality. In the book, Brian offers twelve words that can ground our prayer life and immerse us into the presence of God.  He groups these words into four sets of three; one he says for each corresponding season.  Here is a quick glance at the way the book is laid out:

The Spring-like Season of Spiritual Awakening

The three words are:

Here

Thanks

O

The Summer-like Season of Spiritual Strengthening
The three words are:
Sorry
Help

Please

The Autumn-like Season of Spiritual Surviving
The three words are:

When

No
Why
The Winter-like Season of Spiritual Deepening
Behold
Yes
[…] or silence

Whether you have read the book or not, my hunch is that some of those words make frequent appearances in your prayer life, while others perhaps rarely fall from your lips.  Which of the twelve words do you find yourself saying most to God?  Which do you say least?

Moreover, how is your prayer life going right now?  If you would have asked me that question before I read Brian's book, I might have honestly said, "Rotten!"  I was out of sync with prayer.  I think my most frequent word that fell from my lips was, "Why?"  I wanted to pray, but found my words sounding hallow, like my soul was empty and the words echoed around with no grounding.  Over the last few weeks I have been trying to work my way through these words.

I started  simply at the beginning.  For the last several weeks I have been trying to notice God here in the moment in which I find myself.  Whether I am hitting a golf ball, playing with my kids, writing a blog post, listening to someone in my church, how is God present right here in that moment?

To be honest, it is not easy.  It takes practice.  Lots and lots of practice.  I still get caught up in my own thoughts/ideas/agenda and miss God.  I still move too fast in my life and God's presence is blurred.  Yet, it is a great place to start.  If God is here, right here as you are staring at the screen reading this post, how might God be then and there?  When you are at work?  When you are out in the garden pulling weeds or mowing?  When you are going about your daily routine.  Awakening to God's presence is the first step into prayer for me.

Brother Lawrence, a Catholic monk, once wrote a book about practicing the presence of God.  Now maybe that sounds easier if you were living in a monastery, where prayer was expected and encouraged all the time, around people who were engaging in the faith daily.  But, you might argue, we don't live in a monastery, we live in a world where people cut us off in traffic and our co-workers get on our nerves.  Here is the thing, Brother Lawrence came up with this idea and engaged in this prayer practice of noticing God as he was washing dishes.  Is there anything more mundane and ordinary than washing dishes?  Yet, if God can meet us there in the stuck-on muck of leftover cooking and half-eaten food, perhaps God can meet us in other places too. 

Or perhaps, it is not so much about inviting God into our everyday-ness, rather it is about noticing God is already there.  God is already there when I am in my office working, God is already there when I go to a meeting, God is already there when you come to church or drive home.  Are we willing to be radically open to God being here, right here, in our lives?  To respond, "Yes" is the first step into prayer.

I pray that as you notice God here in your life, you will notice the traces of God's grace too.

Blessings ~