Praying Alone
The most precious gift we have received is the possibility of knowing our God. In the Older Testament, we read stories of God doing very human things… walking in the garden in the evening (Gen. 3:8a); speaking with Hagar (Gen. 16.13) and with Abraham and Sarah (Gen. 18:1); wrestling with Jacob (Gen. 32:30); visited Gideon to assure him of the results of a battle (Judges 6:22); meeting with Samson’s parents (Judges 13:21, 22); walking with Daniel & his companions in the furnace (Daniel 3:25).
We might wonder why we don’t have those kinds of experiences. Imagine taking a long walk with God along the shore with an early evening moon! Or seeing a stranger walking near our house and realizing that the stranger was God! Wouldn’t it be easier to know God, to talk with God, if only God would appear like that today! But St. Paul assures us that we always have all that we need for conversations with God – which means we always have the ability to pray! The Spirit comes to help our weakness. We don’t know what we should pray, but the Spirit himself pleads our case with unexpressed groans. Romans 8:26.
Too often, we think that those who know how to pray have some special insight into “how to”. This page hopes to counter that presumption by providing weekly approaches to prayer. Remember that there is no “one size fits all” in prayer. Try one approach for a few days. If it doesn’t help you connect with God, try something different. Come back often. Hold to what helps you to connect with God.
Prayer Help 1: A Gratitude Meditation
Grab a cup of tea or coffee, if you want, a pen or pencil, and some paper or a reflection notebook.
- If you like candles or flowers or a particular piece of artistry, place this nearby so that you can focus your attention on something positive and beautiful.
- Find a comfy chair and settle in.
- Pray the following prayer a few times, slowly:
God of all goodness,
Open my eyes and that I might see your goodness to me.
Guide my mind that I might remember your goodness to me.
Open my heart that I might celebrate and praise you for your goodness to me.
- Think back over the prior day and try to remember everything good that came your way.
- When you have finished, think back further and try to remember every blessing that came your way over the last week…. Then over the last month.
- Take your pen/pencil and write the following words from Psalm 66: “Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell of the wondrous things God has done for me!” Then begin writing and keep moving backwards in time. Write down all the blessing you can remember that have come your way over the course of the prior day, then the prior week, the prior month, and even the prior year.
- When you have finished, re-read your list, beginning with the words of Psalm 66, and allow your heart to praise and thank God in your own words.
- Ask the Spirit to help you remain confident of God’s great love for you. Pray for the courage to live the next day from a position of immense gratitude.