To believe in the power of prayer perhaps start with surrendering to the outcome. Think of it like a dance. You must first stop, hush your words and listen to the music.
Prayer fills me up again and connects me. It nourishes, restores, grounds and lifts me up when I am low. It focuses me when I am wandering. Balances me out and centers me when I am confused.
I pray so much differently now at age forty four, then I did at age six, fifteen, when I was in my twenties and at the start of parenthood in my mid-thirties.
Our prayer, like us, evolves through time.
There is no right way, no wrong way. Prayer is personal, empowering, life giving, and your own unique conversation with God, the Universe and Spirit.
At six, I prayed with my hands folded in bed, in the dark of my room. When I was fifteen, I prayed when I was lost and scared, at random moments on random days. In my twenties I prayed in church with my eyes closed or on hill tops with my eyes wide open. In my thirties I forgot to pray but when I remembered, it was with a friend, when I held my children, sang in church, or went on a long run.
Today language with God has less words than at other times in my life. My prayer has fewer words when I show up in the mornings in my grandfather’s antique chair that sits at the end of our bed. I experiment with different meditations. I open my hands on my lap to the silence. Sometimes I read prayerful words. I sing in the shower, dance with my children, walk with the dog, wash the dishes, plant in the garden, visit with a friend, all while God is present. God is there in these acts, which can all be prayer, if I surrender and let Grace work Her magic.
For me prayer isn’t just sitting in a church or saying grace. Nor is it just asking God to look out for others. Prayer is being aware of the light, love and beauty in the flowers, mountains, children’s laughter, adult arguments, traffic congestion, busy schedule, tasks and responsibilities.
Prayer is when I give thanks, let go and breathe. It’s not in the asking or doing, it is in the being. It is in the silence.
When I thought prayer was all about asking and pleading, my cup was empty. When I give thanks for my cup, hold it out to God, the Universe, Holy Spirit, Creation, Divine Mystery in gratitude and trust it will fill up with all I need, it is full to over flowing.
Prayer gets to be a showing up, a connection, a grace that only you have to understand. And often that understanding doesn’t exist in our heads but in our hearts.
Cheers, Jenny
