Spirituality
01-08

Prayer as its most basic level is conversation with God.  This seems obvious, but it harbors an awesome reality.  To converse with someone implies that that someone wants to pay attention to you, otherwise you have a monologue, not a conversation.  The mere existence of prayer implies that God is paying attention, that he is interested in spending time with you.  Chris titan Prayer is an invitation from God to the one who prays—it starts with God, not with you.

- Bartunek, John: A Guide to Christian Meditation: (United States, Circle Press, 2010).

Christian meditation differs essentially from transcendental meditation and other New Age centering techniques.  Christian meditation is Christ-centered, a loving dialogue between Christ and the soul that deepens your friendship with Christ.  It starts with the Holy Spirit urging you to pursue a greater knowledge and love of Christ and ends with your renewed commitment to follow and imitate Christ in the unique circumstances of our daily life.

Transcendental meditation, on the other hand, is self-centered.  Instead of a dialogue with God, an opening of the soul to God, it consists primarily in calming the many passions of the soul, creating a self-induced interior tranquility and focus that overflows in certain types of feelings.  The goal of transcendental meditation is to withdraw from the complexities of life in order to experience emotional tranquility the goal of Christian meditation is to know, love, and follow Jesus Christ more completely to discover  and embrace God’s will for you more and more each day.

- Bartunek, John: A Guide to Christian Meditation: (United States, Circle Press, 2010).

The story is told of Franklin Roosevelt, who often endured long receiving lines at the White House. He complained that no one really paid any attention to what was said. One day, during a reception, he decided to try an experiment. To each person who passed down the line and shook his hand, he murmured, "I murdered my grandmother this morning." The guests responded with phrases like, "Marvelous! Keep up the good work. We are proud of you. God bless you, sir." It was not till the end of the line, while greeting the ambassador from Bolivia, that his words were actually heard. Nonplussed, the ambassador leaned over and whispered, "I'm sure she had it coming."

Are we actually listening to God when we are praying or are we just going through the motions?

A grandfather was walking past his young granddaughter's room one night when he saw her kneeling beside her bed, with head bowed and hands folded, repeating the alphabet.

"What are you doing?" he asked her.

She explained, "I'm saying my prayers, but I couldn't think of just what I wanted to say. So I'm just saying all the letters of the alphabet, and God can put them together however he thinks best."

Maybe some of the rest of us should have that kind of faith. As "His Prayer" puts it, "THY will be done."

I CANNOT PRAY
* I cannot say OUR if my religion has no room for others and their needs.
* I cannot say FATHER if I do not demonstrate this relationship in my daily life.
* I cannot say WHO ART IN HEAVEN if all my interests and pursuits are in earthly things.
* I cannot say HALLOWED BE THY NAME if I, who am called by his name am not holy.
* I cannot say THY KINGDOM COME if I am unwilling to give up my own sovereignty and accept the righteous reign of God.
* I cannot say THY WILL BE DONE if I am unwilling or resentful of having it in my life.
* I cannot say ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN unless I am truly ready to give myself to his service here and now.
* I cannot say GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD without expending honest effort for it or by ignoring the genuine needs of my fellow men.
* I cannot say FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US if I continue to harbor a grudge against anyone.
* I cannot say LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION if I deliberately choose to remain in a situation where I am likely to be tempted.
* I cannot say DELIVER US FROM EVIL if I am not prepared to fight in the spiritual realm with the weapon of prayer.
* I cannot say THINE IS THE KINGDOM if I do not give the King the disciplined obedience of a loyal subject.
* I cannot say THINE IS THE POWER if I fear what my neighbors do or say to me.
* I cannot say THINE IS THE GLORY if I am seeking my own glory first.
* I cannot say FOREVER if I am anxious about each day's events.
* I cannot say AMEN unless I honestly say "Cost what it may, this is my prayer."

Good listening is like tuning in a radio station
Good listening is like tuning in a radio station. For good results, you can listen to only one station at a time. Trying to listen to my wife while looking over an office report is like trying to receive two radio stations at the same time. I end up with distortion and frustration. Listening requires a choice of where I place my attention. To tune into my partner, I must first choose to put away all that will divide my attention. That might mean laying down the newspaper, moving away from the dishes in the sink, putting down the book I'm reading, setting aside my projects.

I asked God to take away my habit.
God said, "No. It is not for me to take away, but for you to give it up."

I asked God to make my handicapped child whole.
God said, "No. His spirit is whole, his body is only temporary."

I asked God to grant me patience."
God said, "No. Patience is a byproduct of tribulations; it isn't granted, it is learned."

I asked God to give me happiness.
God said, "No. I give you blessings; Happiness is up to you."

I asked God to spare me pain.
God said, "No. Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings
you closer to me."

I asked God to make my spirit grow.
God said, "No. You must grow on your own! , but I will prune you to make you fruitful."

I asked God for all things that I might enjoy life.
God said, "No. I will give you life, so that you may enjoy all things."

I ask God to help me LOVE others, as much as He loves me.
God said, "Ahhhh, finally you have the idea."

Rubenstein, the great musician, once said, "If I omit practice one day, I notice it; if two days, my friends notice it' if three days, the public notice it." It is the old doctrine, "Practice makes perfect." We must continue believing, continue praying, continue doing His will. Suppose along any line of art, one should cease practicing, we know what the result will be. If we would only use the same quality of common sense in our religion that we use in our everyday life, we should go on to perfection.