Frequently, we feel the need to sound eloquent and spiritual. The result is frequently that we sort of stumble all over ourselves and speak to God in a way that we would never consider speaking to a person sitting next to us.
For example: Dear Heavenly Father, God, would you just, God, would you just hear my prayer Lord. Father, would you help me feel the presence of God, of the the Father, of You.
Translate that to a person. We would never say, Dear Jenifer, my best friend, lovely sister of mine, would you please take some time to listen to me? Best friend, would you help me know that you are here, Jenifer, my friend, my sister.
Now I realize that we should not equate people with God, as in they don't deserve the same kind of reverence. However, could it be our prayers are a bit contrived and it's because we lack intimacy with the Father so we just trip all over ourselves trying to sound like we have it.
Just a thought. I'm gonna try and work on this. Slow down as I pray and think through what it is I'm really trying to say to this God whom I claim relationship with.
I'd love to here your thoughts on this.
I'm also posting some layouts for you to see.
Another great way we can talk to God is to use his name Jehovah, rather than the generic title of God when there are many gods who people worship but only one true God. Psa 83.18
ReplyDeleteyour layouts are awesome! thank you for taking the time to visit my blog and leaving a comment.
ReplyDeletetake care,
Miriam xx
Great post. I've thought about this question before; I think of it often, in fact, perhaps especially because I teach pre-teens about prayer. So many of them feel distant or disconnected from God, even though they go through the motions of daily prayer at school, and the rehearsed prayers don't really help to bridge that gap. It is difficult for them to reconcile all that they have been taught about God with the notion of being "intimate" with God. As for me, once I realized that no matter my words, God was going to know my heart, I found myself less tongue-tied, speaking frankly, and sometimes, not even speaking -- God knows what is in my heart. Even in the silence, he knows. The words, I believe, are more for us than for him. In a sense, they put us in our place, center us, awaken us to what is really at the heart of the matter.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the lovely comment on my blog.
ReplyDeleteI love your new layouts! :)
very good post Ursula
ReplyDeleteI wonder this all the time
I've often wondered what God thinks when we pray this way...
like "Yes, I'm here, I am listening, what is it you need, I'm here..."
Such a great point and I'm taking it to heart
Nice to see you posting again ;)
I so agree! God does not care when we pause to collect our thoughts either as people often fear is wrong. He still knows our every thought! Great post and amazing layouts!
ReplyDeletejust joined Calico Studio and thought your blog link looked interesting.. Glad I followed it!
I really started to notice this when I started praying in Spanish. It's hard enough just to put my thoughts in order, conjugate the verbs correctly and get the direct objects in their correct places. I get tongue tied so easily! I can't try to "sound pious", too. I'll end up sounding ridiculous. I'm glad that God can read my thoughts and isn't so concerned with my grammar. When I'm able to just relax and talk to Him, as I would talk to a friend, I do much better -- no flowery phrases, no fancy verbage. Just me talking with my God.
ReplyDeleteHappy Mother's Day, sis!