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In prayer, we know God. Our relationship with God at its most intimate is not simply cultivated in, nor nurtured by prayer; but it is prayer. Apart from prayer, we rarely find ourselves restful and attentive enough to experience and to know god. In prayer, we come to the realization that God is in us and we are in God.
For people who are so accustomed to doing activity, prayer can seem like doing nothing. Nothing could be further from the truth. The most important work we do is prayer. In prayer, we become who we are, the unique individual that God created, that Christ redeemed, and that the Holy Spirit gives life to.
In prayer, we find freedom that can come from no other source. In stillness, we find freedom from the weight of life’s disappointments and unmet expectations. In silence, we find freedom from our shortcomings and inadequacies. Whether we find freedom in prayer, or whether it finds us, may not be so clear. But what is abundantly and sometimes painfully clear is that if we do not find stillness, silence, and solitude, we cannot experience the liberating, healing work of the Holy Spirit in the deep places in our lives.
We may think that the most important thing we do when we pray is to say something. In reality, our words can sometimes hinder the work of prayer. When we are talking, we are in control. When we are talking, we are setting the agenda and directing the course of action. When we give ourselves to silence, the Spirit is able to teach us, to shape us, to heal us.
Imagine for a moment that you met someone who was highly regarded in a particular field. Would you benefit more from telling that person what you know about his/her area of expertise, or by listening to what he/she had to say? The same can be said of our time with God, with one important distinction. Our meetings with God do not have to be random chance encounters. They can be intentional, regular, and routine. In fact, if we are going to make any headway in becoming who we are in Christ, those meetings need to be intentional, regular, and routine.
If we do regularly find the silence and the solitude to experience the presence of God, it will not matter so much that on occasion, we do most of the talking. There are certainly times when the events in our lives compel us to cry out to God and maybe even scream at God. God is certainly able to hear whatever we feel a need to say. Yet, our expressions of grief, frustration, anger, joy, or gratitude should never be the sum total of our praying.
In stillness, not just of our bodies, but also our minds, the Holy Spirit teaches us, shapes us, reveals to us who God has created us to be. In prayer, we know God and we also get to know ourselves a little better as well.
Joy and peace,
Ed
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