Discovering Prayer

God will teach us to pray... when we have a commitment to learn to pray, which stems from our motivation or 'volition'.
Occupational science says: "Volition is continuously changing as new experiences can reinforce, challenge and elaborate on existing dispositions and self knowledge."
What this means is that your will - your motivation and volition - can change. If you've had problems sticking with a routine of prayer before, this doesn't mean that you are ill-disciplined, or... ran out of motivation. Your supply of motivation is open-ended.
#prayerlife #prayingfastandslow #faithandscience #trustingGod #commitmenttoprayer #unlimitedmotivation https://goo.gl/phPoKJ
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which stems from our motivation or 'volition', which in turn comes from our values, interests and beliefs.
Occupational science says your will can change, and your supply of motivation is open-ended. So we do have sufficient motivation to deepen our prayer lives and to keep going with prayer. What we need are some practical tools to help us acknowledge our open-ended motivation.
One tool is to ask yourself the question "why pray"? Or, "why should I deepen my prayer life"? You... might at first come up with answers like "I pray because the Bible and church teaches it", or "prayer is what Jesus did - a lot". But why did he pray?
Try spending some time in silent prayer, then ask God to show you a little more about your motivation to pray. There are no right or wrong answers to this question.
#prayerlife #prayingfastandslow #faithandscience #trustingGod #whypray #whydeepenprayer #Godwillteachus https://goo.gl/phPoKJ
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"Finally I saw that worrying had come to nothing. And gave it up. And took my old body and went out into the morning, and sang." - Mary Oliver, I Worried

Do you need some help in learning to pray? One possibility is to find a 'spiritual director', a guide who can travel alongside you on the path
Our Chief Prayer Officer Michelle decided to go to ask the nuns on Clapham Common to teach her how to pray:
"I explained to the sister about my inability to pray. She suggested not doing anything extra for a while – abandon all candles – and just notice the times, however fleeting, when I did pray. She said: 'My guess is you pray more ...than you think you do.' "
Jesus said: "Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you." (Matthew 7:7)
#Michelle #ChiefPrayerOfficer #herstory #surprisedbyprayer #spiritualdirection #attentiveness https://goo.gl/qxgbPM
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Contemplative prayer is sometimes known as prayer of the heart.
One key early writer about contemplative prayer was John Cassian, a Desert Father from the 4th century. He was writing predominantly for monks, but his writing has applications for us as well. He asked the question "why pray?" and concluded that the answer was "in order to develop purity of heart - and love".
Cassian knew that we needed to be vigilant in our Christian lives.
... "Guard your heart and your mind for everything you do comes from it." (Proverbs 4:23)
#prayerlife #prayingfastandslow #faithandscience #purityofheart #prayeroftheheart #desertfathers #ancientwisdom https://goo.gl/phPoKJ
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John Cassian, a Desert Father from the 4th century, wrote in his Conferences for monks: "We must practice fasting, vigils, withdrawal, and the meditation of scripture as activities which are subordinate to our main objective, purity of heart, that is to say, love, and we must never disturb this principal virtue for the sake of those others."
Cassian's motivation for prayer was love and purity of heart, and the result was a balanced diet of prayer, which included fasting, vigi...ls, withdrawal, and meditation on scripture.
This ancient wisdom is applicable to us today, although our balance might be different. What is your balanced diet that feeds your motivation to pray?
#prayerlife #prayingfastandslow #faithandscience #purityofheart #motivationforprayer #balanceddiet #ancientwisdom https://goo.gl/phPoKJ
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"Become inclined to watch the way of rain When it falls slow and free.
Imitate the habit of twilight, Taking time to open the well of color... That fostered the brightness of day.
Draw alongside the silence of stone Until its calmness can claim you. Be excessively gentle with yourself."
- John O’Donohue, A Blessing for One Who is Exhausted
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Our Chief Prayer Officer Michelle writes about her experience of seeking guidance from a nun and learning to pray:
"In time, as I began to notice more about prayer as a way of deepening a relationship with God, I began to make more connections between daily life and faith. I began to see how prayer permeates the whole of life because it is one of the main ways we discover more about ourselves and more about truth. It's the whole of a Christian life that matters, not just seg...ments of it, so the sister also asked about the whole, not just the specific times of concentrated prayer."
#Michelle #ChiefPrayerOfficer #herstory #lessonsinprayer #wholeperson #soakedinprayer https://goo.gl/qxgbPM
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John Cassian, a Desert Father from the 4th century, knew that we needed to be vigilant in our Christian lives, and this is backed up by science.
Daniel Kahneman wrote in "Thinking, Fast and Slow" about 'System 1' and 'System 2' thinking.
'System 1' thinking is fast thinking: intuitive thoughts and instant assumptions. 'System 2' thinking is slow thinking: deliberate, effortful, rational thought. We often don't recognise the instant assumptions we make with System 1, but they ...hugely influence us, and not always for the better.
Spend some time during the day trying to be more aware of when you are thinking fast and thinking slow. When are your assumptions unhelpful?
#prayerlife #prayingfastandslow #modernscience #vigilance #fastthinking #intuition #slowthinking #intention https://goo.gl/phPoKJ
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John Cassian, a Desert Father from the 4th century, knew that we needed to be vigilant in our Christian lives, and this is backed up by science.
Daniel Kahneman wrote in "Thinking, Fast and Slow" about a process called 'priming'. That is when exposure to a stimulus temporarily influences our behaviour. People who are 'money primed' - see images of money on TV, or Monopoly money, or money on screen savers - become more selfish. They are less likely to help others and more like...ly to give less to charity.
Priming affects all of us. So we need to be vigilant about what we read or see during the day. What helps you grow in love and prayer, and what separates you from God and neighbour?
Try spending some time in silent prayer. Listen to God calling you to deepen your relationship with God and to grow in love. Become more aware of all that is going on within your mind, and offer that to God.
#prayerlife #prayingfastandslow #modernscience #vigilance #priming #motivation #growinlove https://goo.gl/phPoKJ
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“If governments knew how subversive is contemplative prayer, they would ban it.” - Desmond Tutu

How do you experience God's call? Have you heard an audible voice, like Samuel, or seen a burning bush, like Moses, or been visited by an angel, like Mary? Or perhaps it is not that obvious or simple!
Our Chief Prayer Officer Michelle had a gnawing sense that she should be doing something with her dance training to more specifically glorify God. She had heard people talking about having a sense of calling, and wondered what God might have in store for her. Instead, like most ...people she listened but couldn't hear anything direct or obvious.
So what do we do when we don't know what God is saying? Is it something to do with the quality or direction of our listening?
#Michelle #ChiefPrayerOfficer #herstory #stillsmallvoice #senseofcalling #nagging #discernment https://goo.gl/qxgbPM
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God will teach us to pray... and it helps to be in an environment that is conducive to prayer. This environment means rhythm of our life as well as the space around us.
The power of discipline is as old as the hills. In these examples in the Bible, prayer is woven into the habits of the day.
"When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and p...rayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously." - Daniel 6:10
"Isaac went out to the field one evening to meditate." - Genesis 24:63
Jesus said: "whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door" - Matthew 6:6
Do you have a daily rhythm that provides a framework for prayer? What are your habits of the day?
#prayerlife #prayingfastandslow #establishaplace #environment #dailyrhythm #habitsoftheday https://goo.gl/phPoKJ
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Our routines help us to pray. In a religious community, there are set times for prayer, meals, work such as hospitality or growing food, recreation, and creative pursuits. All these activities are build into a rhythm, which means that, in time, the members of the community form helpful habits surrounding prayer.
St Augustine's Rule for religious communities says that when you hear the bell for prayer, you gently put down what you are doing and go to pray as if it is the voice... of the Lord that is calling you.
Do you have a daily rhythm that provides a framework for prayer? What is your cue for prayer?
#prayerlife #prayingfastandslow #establishaplace #environment #dailyrhythm #habitsoftheday https://goo.gl/phPoKJ
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"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" - Mary Oliver, The Summer Day

John Ortberg wrote: "A calling is not something you discover, not something you choose. The word vocation comes from the Latin word for voice. Discovering involves carefully listening."
In Christian circles, discernment of whether or not you have a vocation is often linked to a specific ministry, service or even the religious life. But if we are all made in God's image, and we all have a purpose, however humble, then we all have a call, or a work to which we are especially su...ited.
Martin L Smith, and Anglican monk, said that vocation is more a question of peeling back the layers of what we have become, to find our God-given heart's desires.
Our Chief Prayer Officer Michelle has written a blog about how God called her to try out being a nun for a time, and the lessons she learned about prayer.
#Michelle #ChiefPrayerOfficer #herstory #allarecalled #imagesofGod #journeyindiscovery https://goo.gl/qxgbPM
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Our routines and habits help us to pray.
Charles Duhigg is the author of "The Power of Habit" about the science of habit formation. He has some good practical suggestions about how to build consistent habits. He suggests that all habits have three components: cue, routine, and reward.
If we want to deepen our lives of prayer, it's good to look at our existing cues, routines and rewards.
... Spend some time thinking about your daily cues and routines that could be habit-forming and draw you into prayer. It needs to help you settle, so a cup of tea first thing might be helpful, while watching the news might not. When might be the best time of day to pray for you?
#prayerlife #prayingfastandslow #establishaplace #environment #dailyrhythm #habitsoftheday https://goo.gl/phPoKJ
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Our routines and habits help us to pray. To build a consistent habit of prayer, it helps to have a cue, routine, and reward.
For Michelle, our Chief Prayer Officer, has a routine in the morning that provides a cue to gently settle down for her morning prayer: a cup of tea, light a candle, say the Lord's Prayer.
Other cues that people have found helpful are: setting a timer for both starting and ending a prayer time, which means you don't have to keep looking at your watch; m...editating quietly even for a few minutes the night before, a long-distance cue that can make a real difference to prayer the next morning; using a rosary with a variety of different prayers; or having a particular place set aside for prayer.
Spend five minutes thinking about what cues you find helpful. They may be things you already do, or small things you could add that slow you down and help you focus.
#prayerlife #prayingfastandslow #establishaplace #establishhabits #dailyrhythm #cuesandroutines https://goo.gl/phPoKJ
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“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.” - Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude

so thought provoking, encouraging and just what is needed today x

am doing the course for a second time... love Michelle 's voice and find it very comforting and soothing. it could be longer for me .. more time for contemplation but its easy enough to just continue alone after the sessions are finished. i love the fact that you give options as well as oppose to strict instructions. I wish more people would try this. xx

Very Impressed... Found out about Discovering Prayer Through a Friend on Facebook, So Thankful For Finding Out About This ...

Thought provoking, uplifting and meaningful audio prayer tracks which are a true help in the business of prayer.

This is so helpful. Found you when using Thy Kingdom Come. Thank you.

This helps people to pray "at all times and in all places"!

So enjoying spending quality time in prayer. Thank you, I really needed this.

I love it, it’s like an oasis in the desert

I just Started, very helpful. This is an amazing idea

I will keep going on this.

I just Started and it is an amazing idea 💡.

I will keep going on this.

I have recently finished the course and have found it very interesting. The hardest type of prayer for me is the one of silence, I just cannot do this at the moment.



The course has helped me look at other forms of prayer, which I am now putting into daily practise. Thank you

I have only just begun, but I am looking forward to this

I appreciate the quietly spoken meditative prayer. I would really like to listen to these spoken guided prayerful meditations often. I'd be thankful to see a series of the recordings available! God bless you.

I am really enjoying these prayer times. I have used them at home, at our churches prayer meeting and our Morning prayer service yesterday.

Thank you so much for these as most times I find it hard to pray in an orderly fashion and these prayers for Thy Kingdom Come have worked so well.

Cheers Virginia x

Seems like a really good nourishing idea

I love the varied selections of prayer types and the comforting input from the ”prayer masters”

I could carry on with tthis package ad infinitum given half a changes maybe I just need mire self discipline in my prayer lives. I think I'm lucky to have the task of leading intercessionary prayers and I love it's why I can't apply the same level of self discipline to my everyday prayer life is beyond me. Loved all of the past few weeks anyway!!

I have completed the session on Pausing to Pray, and Hearing Gods voice, just recently. I am finding this course very useful thus far. This is helping me to better understand the different kinds of prayer, and reflect on how I pray.

It’s also helping me to be open to other kinds of prayer, or ways of praying I don’t do very often. I am eager to keep learning more and seeing where this takes me :)