Called to Deeper Prayer
Katie Harmon-McLaughlin, Spiritual Formation Ministries
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” -Isaiah 52:7
To pray only when we feel like it is more to seek consolation than to risk conversion. To pray only when it suits us is to want God on our terms… To pray only when it feels good is to court total emptiness when we most need to be filled. -Joan Chittister, Wisdom Distilled from the Daily
Lately prayer has felt like
Distance, distraction, dryness
Restless resistance
Aching absence
Flat and fruitless
Forced and strained-
Motivation lacking
Desire waning
Bored and frustrated.
I’m even weary of small consolations-
Too small, too confining,
Too insular, too privileged.
It feels like something more expansive
Is trying to break through.
These rituals run dry-
A deeper source to tap
That is less about little self-revelations,
And more about the throbbing heart of reality
Awakening all I’ve been evading,
Numbing, avoiding, ignoring
That is too raw and messy and hard
And holy and beautiful to bear-
Too out of my control
Too much mystery and surrender.
I should know by now the persistence
With which “the more”
Will penetrate a life,
A prayer,
Turning to dust the false fruits
Of surface prayers only interested
In what feels good right now.
Reluctant, I step timid toward an opening
Where what is soft and tender
Is exposed to every prick and pull of The Real.
I notice a surge of longing
Out of the dusty dryness of comfortable prayers,
A solace urging onward.
What is this all for anyway
If not to chase, to touch, to surrender all
Into the sacred mystery at the heart of life,
If not to be continually transformed?
Prayer Phrase
“Led by the Holy Spirit, we work with God and others to restore peace (shalom) to creation.” – https://www.cofchrist.org/enduring-principles
Spiritual Practice
Embodying God’s Shalom
Find a way to express and embody God’s shalom. Begin by prayerfully listening to your longing for peace and wholeness. Become silent and imagine you can hear the groaning of the Earth’s people, nations, and creatures. Prayerfully open yourself to God’s yearning for peace and the divine vision of shalom.
What images, feelings, and words come to you? What prayer for peace comes to you from your time of listening? Speak or write this prayer. What act of justice, kindness, healing, or peacemaking does God invite you to consider this day?
Today’s Prayer for Peace
Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.
