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Prayer: Deepening our Intimacy with God
Scripture
“In the same way, the Spirit helps
us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but
the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot
express.”
-Romans
8:26
Message
The forms of prayer we were
taught in the context of our religious upbringing may not be meeting our
current need for a deeper experience of God.
The progression of prayer on our spiritual journey may go something
like this: we start out early experiencing prayer through the words “we
say” to God and that works; then we may find the need to learn more
about God through study and reflection; eventually, we tend to hit a
“dry spot” where our spiritual life seems no longer to be satisfying.
This is a normal stage of spiritual growth and signals a readiness (and an
invitation) to deeper levels of intimacy (communion beyond words)..
Going
Deeper
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Begin by spending
time quietly in God’s presence, allowing yourself to settle into
that beyond-words place of comfort and intimacy, receptivity and
restful repose.
-
Imagine Jesus calling
you by name and asking, “-----------, what do you want?”
Allow your truest answer to this question to come up from your heart,
and express this to God.
- Choose
your favorite name or image for God. (God, Jesus, Father, Creator,
Spirit, Breath of Life, Lord, Shepherd…whatever best captures your
sense of who God is to you at this point in your relationship)
- Now,
combine your name for God with the expression of your heart’s
desire. Place it where it is easiest to say in the rhythm of
your breathing.
Once you have gotten used to this prayer, pray
it into the spaces of your day – when you are waiting, when you are
worried and anxious, when you are needing some sense of God’s presence.
Learn to pray it underneath all the other thoughts and words that swirl
about you throughout your daily interactions.
Prayer
Oh God,
Help
me to find all the ways I can communicate and commune with You.
I desire to deepen my intimacy with You.
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