Ordinary Eve
Pray as you can, not as you can't
Simply put prayer is talking to God...just as you are without any special words or special actions. It's a way of sharing the good and the bad events that happen in your life with the one person who will never leave you.
Just as everyone has a different personality everyone will have different ways of praying. The important thing is to remember - there is no right or wrong way to pray. If something feels wrong to you then leave it and move on.
Pray as you can...not as you can't.
Here are a few suggestions you may find helpful:-
Position
Make sure you are comfortable, that the temperature feels right and that you are in a quiet place. Whether you are praying with others or on your own it's very easy to get distracted.
Actions
You might like to light a candle, or look at a postcard or picture that makes you feel peaceful. You could listen to music anything that seperates this time from your normal time.
Lectio Divina
This is a posh name for a simple exercise but a practise which is very old. Simply you choose a passage of scripture, read it aloud and then once again but paying attention to anything that really sticks out for you. Some words might make you sad, make you really happy, bring to mind an issue you are thinking about. Then you talk with God about that feeling.
To find out more check out the link on the right hand column.
Prayer walk
Go out for a walk, try to empty your mind of pressures and worries and let God take you where he wants to. When you feel drawn to an object on your walk pick it up. This will form the basis of your prayer.
When you have a chance to sit down take the object and ask/answer these questions:-
What does this object tell me about myself?
What does this object tell me about God?
What does this object tell me the relationship between me and God?
Talking to thin air
We've all felt like this. Prayer is like the rest of life - sometimes it's easy, sometimes nothing seems harder or more pointless. The best way I have found to deal with this is to remember that God is more powerful than our powerlessness and we never know the effect our prayers may have. Just let him get on with it.
