Prayer as peaceful as a deep slumber

Lately, as I have endeavored to listen to the voice of God, I have experienced prayer in a whole new way. Listening has caused me to slow down and, well,... listen. In the past prayer meant closing my eyes, rattling off my prayers, and finishing with a definitive amen. Now I tend to pray more internally and allow my mind to relax. You might be thinking, "But what about the distractions that come to mind?" Well, the best way I can describe this type of prayer is focused listening prayer. I focus on entering God's presence and listening. As thoughts and worries or people come to mind I pray about them or the circumstances surrounding them until I feel a quiet peace about it. Then I wait until something else comes to mind and pray again. If a scripture comes to mind, I accept it as a word from God. If a song comes to mind, I sing it.

You might be wondering, "Well how does this type of prayer work when praying with others?" The other day I experienced the most beautiful time of prayer with my friend Maria. We waited in silence for a few minutes before praying and as one of us was led we began to pray. Holding hands we prayed for each other and waited. I could feel the grasp of her hand in mine as we lifted up our concerns to our heavenly Father. Then after our words had ceased, we sat in the most beautiful silence. It was like being asleep, and I could not feel the grasp of her hand. At some point I realized our prayer would have to end, but I didn't want it to. When the doorbell rang I slowly finished our prayer, before getting up.

When I returned from going to the door, Maria and I discussed what we had just experienced. She, too, said that she did not want our quiet prayer to end, and said, "Liz, did you feel how we could no longer feel our hands? It felt like our hands were gyrating!" God was clearly present.

Sometimes, I think fear drives us to rattle off prayers, whether alone or in a group. Could it be that waiting and listening during prayer causes you anxiety that causes you to fill the space with words? Maybe you're afraid God won't speak to you in the silence or have been taught that this is how you pray. Perhaps you don't truly believe that God wants to speak to you. Whatever your reason, how about giving listening prayer a try? You might find that giving space for God to move is truly rest to your soul.