I believe we were created to revel in a life of prayer! Prayer is what connects us to a far greater Presence than any human being can provide, no matter how wonderful or powerful that human being is.

It is quite obvious that if we believe in an all-powerful, all-knowing, omnipresent God, he does not need our prayers, yet he has given us the gift of prayer so that we can be in a relationship with Him. Prayer allows us to pour our hearts out to God, to tell Him our fears, our hurts, our hopes, our needs.
Every human being needs a safe constant haven, where they are fully assured of being loved, accepted and understood. Prayer teaches us that God is truly our safe haven. Prayer inspires us to praise and acknowledge God for all He is and does. In praise and worship we experience a very real sense of a living God – One who hears, receives and is blessed by the prayers we direct to Him and above all responds in mercy and grace. Prayer helps us to “practice the presence of God”. In other words, it is through prayer that we keep our understanding of God uppermost in our thoughts, words, actions, hopes and aspirations.

I have just read a fascinating book called “Sacred Pathways”, by Gary Thomas. For this author, a sacred pathway is the way we relate to God and draw near to Him. He describes nine sacred pathways according to one’s spiritual temperament or inclination:

• Naturalists: Loving God out of doors
• Sensates: Loving God with the senses
• Traditionalists: Loving God through ritual and symbols
• Ascetics: Loving God in solitude and simplicity
• Activists: Loving God through confrontation
• Caregivers: Loving God through loving others
• Enthusiasts: Loving God through celebration
• Contemplatives: Loving God through adoration
• Intellectuals: Loving God with the mind

Jesus’ followers watched him praying and then asked “Lord, teach us to pray”. So He taught them the Our Father prayer, a wonderful prayer to use when you don’t know what to pray for or with.

Journal activity:
It may be helpful to describe the current state of your prayer life at the moment. E.g. random times of prayer, regular prayer, arrow prayers – I pray when I have a need, prayer life non-existent etc. Having read about the various spiritual temperaments above, do you feel you can relate to any of them? In other words, as you read perhaps you thought, I am a naturalist; I need to get outdoors more to be aware of God.

Make a note of your most restful, least distracted spot to be in while praying. Although I am a keen gardener, I personally find my garden too distracting to pray in because I think about things I need to do while I am praying.

Let me encourage you with the thought that prayer develops with practice, persistence and patience.

A prayer to begin with:
Can it be true Lord that you would want to meet with me every day in all I do? That relationship with me is what you created me for? It is almost too big for me, yet I long for this connection with you. Will you help me recognise and practice the best ways of approaching and speaking to you? Will you keep me from getting too busy, distracted and bogged down so that you are last on my agenda? I want you to be first. Thank you for hearing and responding to this prayer and helping me develop a prayer life that is worthy of you.

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