At this week's evening study, we discussed prayer. We viewed a clip from the website, recycleyourfaith.com. In the clip Tim talks about prayer and his changing understanding of prayer. He poses a question based on a Kierkegaard quote that indicates prayer influences the one doing the praying more than it influences God. That was an awesome starting point as the group discussed our understanding of prayer.
During the discussion we explored what it meant to hear God as part of prayer. I began to ponder how we go about hearing God and where the voice of God can be found. I feel that a struggle that I have in my prayer discipline is providing the space to hear God. Tim talked about praying with his feet, moving about his neighborhood as he prayed. I wonder how many times I fail to hear God's voice in the most unexpected places.
Sharing with the group, I talked about how maybe the Lord's voice could be found while reading the
newspaper, or in a conversation with someone, or in what I view in the world around me. These are not my conventional understandings of how to hear the voice. I have always thought that it required me to be silent and contemplative, two traits I am not extremely good at.
How do you make space to hear God in prayer? What are your understandings of prayer?
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