I believe in praying from the heart, conversationally. I’ve never really been one to recite memorized prayers or to repeat the same prayer over and over again, as if by repetition I somehow coax God to respond.
Prayer is not an incantation and I truly believe that God listens to the motive of the heart rather than to the words of the mouth. Effective praying, then, is heart-felt, sincere from inside of us right to the inside of God.
That said, there have been occasions where prayers spoken or written down from years past have had a profound impact on my life when I have read them. I ponder the import of the sentences, of the requests, of the….prayer. I feel the heart behind the words, the intent behind the verbiage.
If you and I can pray a written prayer and let it come from a deep place…rather than just mere reading…then, I think, that prayer can truly be ‘ours’ and give expression to deep longings in our own spiritual journey.
One such prayer that moves me deeply, that I can pray sincerely and that represents the true desire of my heart and the passion of my faith, is the ‘Peace Prayer’ of Francis of Assisi, a Catholic priest from another, ancient era.
See if you can slowly, thoughtfully and sincerely pray this for yourself. Let the words become yours. Carefully pause at each stanza and reflect. Whisper, “Yes, Jesus, this is what I want in me.”
“Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen”
Prayer is not an incantation and I truly believe that God listens to the motive of the heart rather than to the words of the mouth. Effective praying, then, is heart-felt, sincere from inside of us right to the inside of God.
That said, there have been occasions where prayers spoken or written down from years past have had a profound impact on my life when I have read them. I ponder the import of the sentences, of the requests, of the….prayer. I feel the heart behind the words, the intent behind the verbiage.
If you and I can pray a written prayer and let it come from a deep place…rather than just mere reading…then, I think, that prayer can truly be ‘ours’ and give expression to deep longings in our own spiritual journey.
One such prayer that moves me deeply, that I can pray sincerely and that represents the true desire of my heart and the passion of my faith, is the ‘Peace Prayer’ of Francis of Assisi, a Catholic priest from another, ancient era.
See if you can slowly, thoughtfully and sincerely pray this for yourself. Let the words become yours. Carefully pause at each stanza and reflect. Whisper, “Yes, Jesus, this is what I want in me.”
“Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen”
