Mindful Christianity Today
The good news is we never need to feel alone, isolated or estranged from God. You and I were created to live in fellowship with God and prayer is an intrinsic part of that relationship. Our life journey affords us the opportunity to walk hand in hand with God and whether we realize it or not God is with us through every step. Silent prayer centers our heart in the presence of God.
God is present and has given us the promise that he will always be with us. Our struggle is being mindful of His presence and inviting him to be a part of our lives and letting His love transform and change us.
Silent or contemplative prayer is a way of learning how to meditate and listen without the need for spoken words as a way of communicating and being present with God. The opening of the Lord’s Prayer unfolds with the affirmation that God is our heavenly father, and there is an indescribable sense of the awesomeness of God. How do we wrap our heads around the Father who is the creator of the stars that number more than the grains of sands on planet earth? How do we comprehend we are alive and the galaxy we call home is spinning through space at over a million miles an hour?
Our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name, in reverence, in the silence we are offering ourselves to empty everything that distracts us from focusing our full attention and adoration upon God. God invites us into His presence to leave the cares of the world behind and enjoy His love. So as we become still, we open up our heart to prayer and to seek a divine encounter with God. Contemplative prayer draws us into the silence because the ultimate aim is for us to dwell in the presence of God forever.
In the silence, we release the restless, troubling and confusing thoughts in our minds and replace them with peaceful and hopeful thoughts and rest in the presence of God. The silence ushers us into the throne room of God as we invite the resurrected Christ access to our hearts and minds. God is our refuge and present help in times of trouble and understands every detail of our life.
It is also in the silence we can be honest with ourselves and honest with God about our struggles, weaknesses, and failures. It is in the silence we can meditate upon and struggle with our larger than life egos, the selfishness, and pride which separates us from God’s love. When separated from Gods love, we feel lost and alone.
It is in the silence we humble ourselves and recognize our need for God and our hopelessness without Him. In the quiet, we face our struggles and the pettiness, jealousy, and anger that we feel toward ourselves and others. The good news is in the silence God can speak life to us and offer forgiveness and the hope to change the parts of my life that are self-centered and focused on the world.
The mystery of the spiritual life is that Jesus meets us in the stillness of our heart and reveals his love to us. And in showing his love for us helps free us from our fears and understand who we are concerning everything around us. Every time we encounter the love of God, and it penetrates into our heart it transforms our heart and lessens our fears and anxiety. We experience a loving God who frees us to know and love ourselves as we are created to be. When we focus on the command to love God with all our heart, and we realize the love of God it sets us free to love everyone around us, and we never feel alone or without hope again. Silent prayer centers our heart in the presence of God.
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