When I run in the mornings and then do my personal Yoga practice, I listen to podcasts. If you are not familiar with that term, you can search in iTunes. You can actually find me there. My original podcast originating somewhere around 2005 was “Automation Minutes” which has morphed into “Gary on Manufacturing.”
But I don’t listen to me, of course. My weekly diet includes teaching from Bill Hybels, John Ortberg and Andy Stanley (actually two from him, he does a monthly podcast on Leadership). I also listen to NPR’s Frank Deford on sports–surely the best writer on sports in the country. Technology is a passion, and I listen to Tekzilla and The Gillmor Gang and Scobleizer on that subject. There is Michael Hyatt on personal development.
These are tips for your own growth and development. There are a thousand to choose from. Just load them on your iPod or iPhone and off you go.
Often topics come together. Today, the thought is prayer.
Do you pray intentionally? That means, you don’t drift in your talks with God. You pray specifically, intentionally for something. Some good topics are to pray for God to open your eyes to opportunities to serve. Or for God to bring people into your life for a purpose you need right at that time.
My wife was raised a fundamentalist Baptist. She was taught that all prayers should be from the heart and therefore spontaneous. Writing a prayer was unthinkable. And “saying” the Lord’s Prayer was just some almost-Pagan ritual that people like Catholics did. I simply asked, what about writing a prayer down on paper makes it less from the heart? Opened her eyes to an entirely new world. Then she discovered that Catholics could actually be Christian. Well….
Hybels recently said that he discovered that writing his prayers each morning helped him focus. But he also said something interesting. Some people just seem to go on and on when they pray. They forget the intentional part and just start repeating what they said over and over–forgetting the words of Jesus when he said that you can’t impress God with long prayers of many words.
Ortberg last week introduced a San Francisco transit bus driver who has built a community among the people on her route through her Christian witness and presence. She begins every day at 2:30 am in prayer.
Writing this blog is one form of my prayers. It helps me pause, reflect and seek God’s word.
And, I followed the advice of an acquaintance who suggested the intentional prayer for bringing people into my life. And for opportunities to serve. It all happened.
Tags: Christianity, Church, disciplines, Prayer
Faith Venture 
September 26, 2013 at 8:57 am |
Loved this as a Catholic who tries to be a Christian and fails many times! I thought that the segment of his recent interview (http://www.americamagazine.org/pope-interview) where the new Pope shared his prayer life with us was useful and uplifting – (Bracketed remarks mine!):
“I pray the breviary every morning (The Breviary is a formal liturgical prayer of praise with scripture readings, psalms, readings from the Fathers and petition). I like to pray with the psalms. Then, later, I celebrate Mass (The liturgy of the Eucharist – more Scripture and the mystery of the Body & Blood of Christ!) . I pray the Rosary (Sometimes called the Bible of the poor – a meditative tour of the life of Christ during repetitive prayer – Pater Noster, Ave Maria, Glorias). What I really prefer is adoration in the evening, even when I get distracted and think of other things, or even fall asleep praying. In the evening then, between seven and eight o’clock, I stay in front of the Blessed Sacrament for an hour in adoration. But I pray mentally even when I am waiting at the dentist or at other times of the day.
“Prayer for me is always a prayer full of memory, of recollection, even the memory of my own history or what the Lord has done in his church or in a particular parish. For me it is the memory of which St. Ignatius speaks in the First Week of the Exercises in the encounter with the merciful Christ crucified. And I ask myself: ‘What have I done for Christ? What am I doing for Christ? What should I do for Christ?’ It is the memory of which Ignatius speaks in the ‘Contemplation for Experiencing Divine Love,’ when he asks us to recall the gifts we have received. But above all, I also know that the Lord remembers me. I can forget about him, but I know that he never, ever forgets me. Memory has a fundamental role for the heart of a Jesuit: memory of grace, the memory mentioned in Deuteronomy, the memory of God’s works that are the basis of the covenant between God and the people. It is this memory that makes me his son and that makes me a father, too.”
September 26, 2013 at 9:56 am |
Thank you for sharing that. I have not read enough about the new Pope. It’s on my reading list.
Adoration and Gratitude are two of the most powerful prayers for us who struggle to live like Jesus.
September 26, 2013 at 1:41 pm |
It’s IS hard to keep up. My wife and I met him face to face for a brief moment two weeks ago. Was struck by three things, his sense of humour, his serenity and his awareness of his need for prayers, our prayers!