I once tried teaching prayer. It would be a class at church.
My idea was to teach prayer—not about prayer, but how to pray with practice.
Several people accepted the challenge and signed up.
It turned out that they wanted to learn about prayer. You know, types of prayer—intercessory, confession, praise, contemplative. Like a seminary course. All in the head.
One of my guides to the inner life was Morton Kelsey (The Other Side of Silence). He talked about being suspect at seminary by other students and faculty when he and a small group of friends met regularly for prayer. I’ve read about John and Charles Wesley and a few friends who met regularly for prayer at seminary and were called, not warmly, “methodists” for meeting intentionally and methodically.
Living in our heads comes so easily to us. We seem to have a million thoughts per second. Yet, the two ways we need to go are hard and often ignored.
- To go deeply into the soul touching God.
- To go out into the world and act as if we really followed Jesus.
Oh, and how to pray? Kind of like the advertising slogan–Just Do It. Every day. Several times a day. With intention. Don’t forget to use part of the time to listen.
Faith Venture 
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