Lent, With A Twist Please!
Lent, with a twist please!
Prayer. What are the fruits of prayer? The benefits?
Can you look back on your prayer life and remember the following?
The last time you were corrected in prayer, where you felt God was asking you to change an action, thought pattern, temptation, or behaviour?
The last time you finished prayer with something added to your ‘to do’ list, and the sense that you had been instructed?
The last time you felt steadied on your course, sure of your plan for the day, and confident that your service was right with Heaven?
The last time you adjusted your thinking about another person by either forgiving them, detaching from them, or respecting their separateness more fully?
The last time you finished prayer with a sense that you were loved, completely, just as you were, and that you were better able to be yourself?
The words in bold above are solid fruits of prayer. At various times, we should all be corrected, instructed, steadied, adjusted, and loved from prayer. Partially, this is why we pray, right?
Our relationship with God should not feel transactional. God’s love for us is not only available when we have it all right, lined up, and figured out. We, Catholics, are ahead of the game in the sense that we have a magnificently helpful sacramental life. But we need to pray, too, and nothing should ever get between us and God, least of all our own thinking.
Let’s take one thing from that list above. Be yourself. Be yourself especially in prayer!
Are we doing that? Are we honest with God about who we are, what we want, and why? If we did one thing this Lent that would change our life and make us holier, it would be to focus each day on connecting with our self and bringing that person to prayer. From there, we would take our true self into the day and interact with others, honestly.
If you want to shake up Lent this year, we invite you to try the Contemplative Prayer course for 40 days.You can take the course at your own pace, and we'll provide you with a suggested schedule, daily emails, audio and video tracks, and encouragement. What have you got to lose?
We believe, if you join us on this journey, you will experience Easter in a new way.