Apologies, yesterday’s post on what is a spiritual discipline didn’t get uploaded. So here’s the short version:
My understanding is that spiritual disciplines are like building blocks in a growing relationship with God. If you were an athlete you’d have exercises to help you train, and artist of any sort has different techniques to practice in order to constantly improve their technique, and a Christian has Spiritual Disciplines.
Wise spiritual leaders across the years have made a list of 5, 6, 12… Well, lots of different lists exist of what might be called a spiritual discipline. Some say we must do them all, some say we should find the ones that work for us. If you are a deep theological thinker, Richard Foster has a good book called ‘A Celebration of Discipline’.
The thing is, as with sport and art, sometimes the training is hard work and not fun; in fact, it can take a huge amount of motivation. But, as with sport and art, the result of training is, in my opinion, going to be worth it. It is my belief that putting these things into practice will help me develop a closer and stronger relationship with God, and that is something I am serious about.
So, the first discipline: prayer.
Prayer, the discipline we all do…
I would argue that prayer is the most fundamental building block in having a dynamic relationship with God. If I look honestly at my life though, I could do better. Currently, I meet (via Zoom) 2 or 3 times a week for structured Anglican worship in the form of Morning Prayer. I keep a journal of people I intentionally pray for long term with notes of prayer requests and significant dates. At least once a week I will set aside some time to listen (although recently I’ve had my own agenda in these times). And when I wake up ridiculously early but don’t really want to get up, I pray for whatever happens to be on my heart (because either I get extra prayer time, or I drift back to sleep!)
But prayer is also challenging. I go through periods of having an amazing prayer life, spending a regular amount of time in prayer everyday, hearing clearly from God, finding plenty to say thank you for and feeling like I’m on top of it. Then I find that I’m not doing so great. Prayer time is interrupted by distractions from my phone or my head, or I’m not so certain that I’m actually hearing God or just hearing what I want to hear. Or else I actively avoid it.
So here’s my list of my personal challenges with praying. Do any of these speak to you too?
1. Prayer is personal: if I’m in a position of praying for a specific person with specific requests, I can do that. But otherwise I tend to avoid group praying situations because I feel vulnerable. What we pray for often says a lot about our heart, because that’s where prayer comes from.
2. Sometimes it feels selfish: sometimes the things that are troubling me seem small and insignificant compared to what others are facing. That makes me think twice before presenting them to God (even though I know the bible says otherwise!)
3. Sometimes it’s overwhelming: sometimes the things I have in my heart to pray for seem so huge I don’t know where to start. So I don’t start… I procrastinate instead…
4. Language: here’s another reason I can avoid group praying. It seems like a lot of people are proper ‘prayer warriors’ with powerful words and phrases, and a faith and confidence that I don’t possess. Even when I’m on my own, I can sometimes find myelf questioning the words I’ve used, thinking I could have said it better and wondering if I’ve communicated my concerns well.
So there you have it, my starting place forhunting for God through prayer. I really hope I can get past the self-conscious aspects; prayer is first and foremost for God, not for the people around me! And the bible says in Phillipians 4: 6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Based on these, I have 2 goals for this week: pray simply and regularly, and find someone to pray with.
I’ll come back next week and let you know what I’ve discovered.
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