Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. Matthew 11:28-29 Prayer begins, not with our call to God, but with God's call to us. "Come to me," Jesus calls. "Come." All our praying is in some way a response to God's initiative. But we may … [Read more...] about Releasing our Burdens as Prayer

In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength. Isaiah 30:15 This text from Isaiah is about a time when the Israelites were being pursued by enemies but were refusing God's help. The text tells us that God was full of compassion and ready to help, but they would have none of it. This is not that different from how we sometimes live our lives. We face … [Read more...] about Being Quiet as Prayer

Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10 Many of us are in motion much of the time. We are in motion at our jobs, in motion with our many activities, in motion seeking entertainment and diversion. Even when we are not in motion physically, we are likely to be in motion mentally. Our minds spin with lists of things to do, with conversations we intend to have, with anxieties that won't go … [Read more...] about Being Still as Prayer

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Matthew 14: 22-23 Sometimes prayer is a kind of solitude. It is allowing ourselves to be alone with God. According to the Gospels, Jesus went out of his way to find solitude. Sometimes he … [Read more...] about Experiencing Solitude as Prayer

But I trust in your unfailing love. Psalm 13:5 Prayer is an act of trust. More specifically, it is an act of trusting God's unfailing love. Trust is the act of relying on something or someone. When we take the risk of crossing the river by driving over a bridge, we are trusting the bridge to do what it promises to do. We trust the bridge to assist us, to support us, to be there for us. In the … [Read more...] about Trusting as Prayer

Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. Psalm 25:4-5 Jesus told his followers that the day would come when his followers would no longer see him but that "the Counselor, the Holy Spirit...will teach you all things." (John 14:26) Prayer is sometimes the … [Read more...] about Being Taught by God as Prayer

I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. Psalm 16:7 One of the names for God in Scripture is "Wonderful Counselor." A counselor is someone who listens with respect and compassion to our questions and concerns. A counselor draws us out, helping us clarify what we are experiencing, where we need course correction and what we can do in order to … [Read more...] about Being Counseled by God as Prayer

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Colossians 3:16 One way to pray by listening is to listen to Scripture using a simple approach known as lectio divina, which simply means divine reading. It is a way of reading Scripture that allows the Spirit to use the words of the text to speak directly and deeply into our hearts and lives. In this way of reading, we slow down our reading and we … [Read more...] about Listening to Scripture as Prayer

After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, What are you doing here, Elijah? I King 19:12-13 The context of this story from the first book of Kings is that the prophet Elijah has fled for … [Read more...] about Hearing as Prayer

I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. Ephesians 1:18,19 Prayer is seeing. Prayer is having our eyes opened. It is having the eyes of our hearts enlightened to the hope to which God calls us, to the riches … [Read more...] about Seeing as Prayer