Prayer is arguably the quintessential spiritual practice. When you think about it, the concept is profound; we in our finiteness are interacting directly with the ineffable, infinite force of the universe. That is mind-blowing.<\/p>\n
Have you ever noticed how many ways people pray? Some sit quietly in silence, and others shout loudly while walking around a room. Some use formal language and others speak so casually that you would think they are speaking to the person next to them.<\/p>\n
We each have our own preferred style, and none are better or worse than others, but I must confess that I have struggled on occasions when someone has been publicly praying in a style that is different from my own. I judge and criticize the style instead of listening to the heart of the prayer. I can be as good a Pharisee as the ones who Jesus rebuked 2000 years ago.<\/p>\n
I’m certain that God is not measuring the merits of the prayer based on its presentation, but on the sincerity of the person.<\/p>\n
I wonder if we need to try different styles of prayer, simply to stop us becoming rigid in our patterns and critical of others who are different.<\/p>\n
I wonder if we miss out on the variety of God’s presence because we think we can only relate to God in one particular way.<\/p>\n
I wonder if the biggest obstacle to prayer is our ego-centred “I want” prayers, instead of God-centred “What do you want to say to me?” prayers.<\/p>\n
I wonder what God would say if we stopped long enough to listen.<\/p>\n\n\n