Prayer.
It is the fundamental means God has given us to communicate with Him. Yet all too often prayer can become an area of great difficulty or neglect…especially in a moment of crisis.
Moments of crises tend to distort our vision, beckoning for an immediacy that seldom allows for deep reflection and thoughtful decision making.
Life makes its demands within the tyranny of the urgent.
A limping prayer life amid crisis can create the conditions for spiritual desolation and crippling doubts.
And yet, prayer can be your greatest resource to navigate the choppy waters of crisis and grow through the storm more intimately connected with God.
If you are struggling through the time we are facing, if you feel the weight of the world’s ache…I want to invite you to pray this prayer. It is called A Prayer for Major Life Transition. It goes…
Lord, help me now to unclutter my life, to organize myself in the direction of simplicity. Lord, teach me to listen to my heart; teach me to welcome change, instead of fearing it. Lord, I give you these stirrings inside me. I give you my discontent. I give you my restlessness. I give you my doubt. I give you my despair. I give you all the longings I hold inside. Help me to listen to these signs of change, of growth; help me to listen seriously and follow where they lead through the breathtaking empty space of an open door. (From Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals, 560)
As you engage with this prayer, think about the areas in which you need God’s grace of simplicity. Let the words you say not only be a prayer said, rather, let this prayer be the words you reflect on as a prayer lived.
Understand that if you are going through a season of spiritual aridity, you must check in with your prayer life first. Know that God wants to abide with you…but He also wants you to draw near to abide with him as well.
Let your prayer today be one of seeking renewal and refreshment for the soul and may you know the intimacy of your loving Father through the inhabitation of prayer.
Grace and Peace in Christ,
Matthew Miller
