As we become more convinced of this and more convinced of His love, we need fewer and fewer proofs, and our capacity to trust and receive from Him grows proportionately. It is an act of trust to believe that God is even there. Listening is an act of trust, and as our trust grows, our listening, receptivity, and passivity (toward God) also grow. He often speaks through actions and presence more than through words. He is always speaking to us, and when necessary He uses words. Francis, “Preach the Gospel always, and if necessary, use words,” to apply them also to God. We have already adapted the words attributed to St. This is because God Himself often “speaks” in silence, and indeed speaks most eloquently in silence. As we come to discover that what He has to say is more important than what we have to say, that silence may become a larger and larger part of our prayer time.Īs we spend more time in prayer, our prayer becomes more silent. A good rule of thumb is that, like in a good conversation, at least half of the time we spend in prayer should dedicated to silently listening to God. In addition to regular recollection, we need an extended period of time every day for prayer, with a substantial percentage of that time dedicated to silence, simply to be in the Lord’s presence and open our hearts to listen to Him.
The regular effort to recollect and place ourselves in God’s presence pays off over time as our awareness of Him steadily grows in our souls. We are made for a one-on-one relationship with God and the more we invest in that relationship, the more it will grow.Īs we dedicate ourselves more and more to prayer, the habitual disposition to unceasing prayer begins to grow in us.
#PRAYER FOR GUIDANCE AND DIRECTION HOW TO#
As human beings pray more, they learn how to pray better-just as relationships become more natural with personal investment.
But the less one prays, the worse it goes.” For this reason, checking on the frequency and regularity of prayer is an essential part of spiritual direction. If one has no time for this, then one must at least pray regularly. In the simple observation of Abbot John Chapman, “the only way to pray is to pray and the way to pray well is to pray much. Thus, talking about prayer is ultimately always a matter of talking about one’s relationship with God. Christian prayer is a living relationship with God Who has revealed Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Prayer is not simply a personal practice like stretching or exercising or brushing one’s teeth. Bennet, prayer is at the heart of spiritual direction and spiritual direction should always be accompanied by the ongoing practice and growth in the life of prayer. Paul of the Cross, states strongly, “Unless a person is willing to give him/herself to a life of prayer and daily seeking God, they are not yet ready for ongoing spiritual direction.” For this reason, it is necessary in every spiritual direction meeting to speak about prayer, and if the directee does not bring it up, the spiritual director should always ask, “How is your prayer?” In a related way, the spiritual director will often do well to ask, following a directee’s narrative about a particular situation, “What happened when you brought that to the Lord in prayer?” As noted by Fr.
Bennet Kelley, CP, in a wonderful work entitled Spiritual Direction According to St. Boniface Hicks, OSB Photo Credit: Steven KampsĪ principal work of the spiritual director is to help Christians grow in prayer.
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