Tag-Archive for » how to pray to God «

23
Jul
Body Prayer–Part 6 in Exploring Different Avenues of Prayer

“This is the body like no other that my life has shaped. I live here. This is my soul’s address,” says Barbara Brown Taylor in An Altar in the World. Since I live inside a body, I often involve that body in expressing my heart prayers. My inner world is enlarged as my body communicates for my soul through voice and motion. Here are a few examples of letting your body speak for your soul.

Sing your prayer

Psalms is the prayer book of the Old Testament. Originally written as prayers to be sung, this book continues to give us wonderful lyrics for singing our prayers. Many of our hymns and worship choruses are right out of the book of Psalm. If musicians express their prayers through music, why can’t we? Try singing one of your favorite hymns or choruses his week to express your heart in prayer.

Lift your hands in prayer

Lifting hands is the universal sign of surrender. When we do so in prayer, we are physically expressing our heart surrender to God (See Lamentations 3:40–42 and 1 Timothy 2:8).

Bow down or kneel in prayer

Matthew 20:20–24 records the story of a mother kneeling before the Lord to request a favor for her sons. Her arrogant request was not granted—in fact, it got a lot of negative reaction from those standing by, but her posture shows an attitude of humility. She was obeying Psalm 95:6, even though her motives may have been too “motherly.”

Dance your prayer

One of the most moving expressions of prayer for me happens when I observe or participate in dance as a form of prayer. Getting past my self-consciousness to pour my heart out before the Lord isn’t easy, but I find that worship and intercession freely flows, whether in private or in public, when I dance (Psalm 149:3).

How do you engage your body in prayer, and how does what you do enrich your faith walk?

In Him together, Susan Gaddis

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21
Jul
Other People’s Prayers–Part 5 in Exploring Different Avenues of Prayer

Do you ever feel your prayers could use a little upgrading as far as their content and expression? Are you ever too tired to think through what you want to say in prayer? Try using prayers written by others and you might find a depth in prayer you have been missing. We all do this already when we pray a psalm, the Lord’s Prayer, or one of Saint Paul’s benedictions. These prayers were originally songs, instructions, or written in a letter.

Ancient and modern prayer books often contain a richness of prayer that our own words often lack. Some are organized by topic, so you can find a prayer to suit your situation, such as To Bless the Space Between Us, a Book of Blessings by John O’Donohue. Devotionals frequently include a prayer at the end of the reading.

I’ve written other posts on fixed-hour prayer, or praying the hours, and have found The Divine Hours by Phyllis Tickle and Celtic Daily Prayer to be faithful prayer companions. Such prayer books include a pattern of praise, confession, intercession, scripture reading, and blessing—each worded a little differently depending on the day or the week.

One of my favorite prayers from The Diving Hours a few months ago read, “Almighty God, you know that I have no power in myself: Keep me both outwardly in my body and inwardly in my soul, that I may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.”

We have a treasure trove of prayer available to us in the expressions of others past and present that connects our faith journeys.

Share with us a time when a prayer written by someone else enriched your spiritual journey. (My comment section is a blue link at the bottom of this post.)

In Him together, Susan Gaddis

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16
Jul
Pray as You Go–Part 3 in Exploring Different Avenues of Prayer

Do you feel guilty because your prayer life takes a back seat to your busy life? What if you are a person for whom sitting still and praying takes more energy than jogging five miles? Simple problem solved: Pray as you go.

Headed for the gym? Going out for a jog? Put your ear phones on, turn the music down low, and use the motion of your body as a rhythm for prayer. Talk to God in your thoughts as if he was right beside you. Praise him for his creation and the ability to move your body. Discuss your day with him. Give him your concerns. Let him be your exercise partner.

Add a friend. For many years a friend and I would pray and walk together every Sunday morning at 5:00. Another friend helped me renovate my son’s room, and we prayed together as we rolled green paint across the walls.

Pray as you do the tasks that don’t take much concentration. I pray when I’m driving around running errands and when I’m cleaning the bathtub. The Celtic Christians were great at this type of praying—see my post on The Celtic Art of Knitting Work and Prayer Together.

Pray quick prayers for people as you encounter them throughout the day. This keeps you in a positive mood when the stresses people create threaten your peace. A short blessing spoken over a child as he leaves for school or a quick silent prayer for a co-worker add up to a lot of daily prayer!

Begin and end your day with a pillow prayer. When you first wake up in the morning and before you ever lift your head from the pillow, ask the Lord to oversee the events of your day. As you lay your head down on your pillow at the end of the day, thank God for five things that happened in your day.

I’d love to hear your suggestions for “on the go praying” in the comment section below. Join us next week as we continue this six post series on Exploring Different Avenues of Prayer.

In Him together, Susan Gaddis

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14
Jul
Praying God’s Word–Part 2 in Exploring Different Avenues of Prayer

One of my favorite ways of praying is to reword a Scripture passage into a paraphrased prayer. Praying God’s Word back to him ignites the Father’s heart towards those for whom we intercede.

The following is an example of Ezekiel 36:24–27 paraphrased as prayer by a wife for a husband captivated by pornography. It could easily be adjusted to fit any person and the struggle hindering his or her walk with God.

Father, you promise in Ezekiel 36:24–27 that you will take my husband out of the ways of the world, which includes pornography. You state that you will sprinkle clean water on him and he will be clean. The impurities that have contaminated him from his idol of pornography will be wiped away.

Along with that, you promise to give him a new heart and create a new spirit within him—removing his heart of stone and giving him a heart of flesh. And finally, you promise to place your Spirit within my husband to motivate him to follow your decrees and keep your ways.

Father, I remind you of these promises in Ezekiel 36. I ask for purity and holiness for my husband and that you cause him to seek mental cleanliness and the destruction of his idol of pornography.

I request that a new heart for you and our family be given to my husband and a new spirit of love and purity. Motivate my husband to follow your directions and keep your ways.

I ask this for your name’s sake and for your reputation as a promise keeper. I know my husband does not deserve your mercy, but you are a God of mercy who continually seeks to save those whose hearts are far from you. I realize that my husband has a free will, but I also know that just as you turn the heart of a king, you can turn my husband’s heart towards you.

Finally, I request that this promise be kept because of your Son’s shed blood and victory at Calvary that has broken all the power of sin to hold my husband captive. I ask these things in the name of your Son, Jesus. Amen.

If you haven’t already, try using the Scriptures as prayer this week and see how it expands your experience of prayer. For those of you who pray this way regularly, what has been your experience and what are your favorite Scriptures to pray back to the Father?

In Him together, Susan Gaddis

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