• Home
    • About
  • Prayer Diary
  • Daily Quote
    • Untitled
    • Archives Quote musings 2012
    • Archives, Quote musings 2011
  • Word & Image
  • Resource List
  • Books
  • Prayers and Poems
  • Spiritual Books
  • Archives, scripture
  A Prayer Diary

Election worry

10/26/2024

0 Comments

 
Picture
I'm worried about the election. Worry woke me up last night. On my own, I can't get rid of consuming worry. Over the years, I've tried that, but never succeeded. Humans can't do that, well, at least I can't. 
       So in the middle of last night I called out to God in desperation, not really thinking it would help. But it did. I felt the Holy Spirit coming down on me, at least there it was. Something beautifully and mysteriously shifted in my being—in my heart and in my head. My heart opened, my mind stopped chattering, and the silence of love took over. 
   This is what I experienced last night and  into the morning. It is still with me. ​

0 Comments

April 29th, 2024

4/29/2024

0 Comments

 
Picture
Recently someone asked me about my call to pray for people. 'What do you do to respond to that call?' My response was to share what I believe I 'should' do, and what helps me have some sense that: yes, I am praying for others, I am making a difference.
      Here  are some rambling thoughts, in no precise order, and nothing that I do all the time, but try to keep it as a daily practice. Prayer is like that; we know when we're on the right track because we believe  we are reaching God. We don't look for the 'right' results; we trust that all is well. And say, Amen. 
• Spend time--morning, noon, and night praying, meditation, reading--pray without ceasing!
• Write down names--pray a long list daily and a short list, which I call The List, throughout the day
• Centering Prayer
• The Jesus Prayer
• Bible reading and Lection Divina
• Clear my mind of mental clutter--gossip, the news
• Clear my calendar of clutter
• Take care of my health

0 Comments

Called to pray for people

8/6/2023

0 Comments

 
Picture
We have many ways to pray for people--lift up their names….tell God exactly what we want God to do … and everything in between. Theologically this is called intercessory prayer, but the term feels too formal, too impersonal, too privileged, too…. 
    For me to say, "I am called to be an intercessor," sounds highfalutin--a call that suggests vain glory, not a God call which, by its very nature is humbling and replete with mercy. 
    Occasionally I tell people, "I feel called to pray for people." But not often because the call is in the doing between God and me, not in any proclamation to the world. It is not a job, such as teaching . It is between God and me, and sometimes I feel called to let people know I am doing it. Fine, but that's not part of the call. 

0 Comments

Keep praying

5/2/2023

0 Comments

 
Picture
I'm still working on this idea about praying for specific results, as in praying for healing, which I wrote about the other day. In church on Sunday someone asked for prayers that a the doctor find the right medicine and procedure for a friend with cancer. On it goes. We all have specific requests, as it should be, because we lead our lives trying to figure out the best answer to everything. So why not ask God to join us in that? 
      Sometimes when I ask for what I want, I feel that I have let go of my faith, which 'should' be Thy will be done. Then I say to myself, "Oh, what a mess you are making of this. Get out of your head!" On it goes. Well, at least God is present. So why not thank God for that? 
      And then there is St. Paul's Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5.17), which suggests many possibilities  and freeing me up to keep praying. 

0 Comments

Pray as Jesus prayed

4/26/2023

0 Comments

 
Picture
"I'm going to pray for complete healing. Why not?" wrote a friend whose husband has dementia. 
"Why not!" I wrote back, and thus I began--and am still praying. "Why not!' Jesus did, and we have examples of his success. And besides, isn't that one of the ways to follow Jesus? 


What to pray for; how to pray--so many question as we grapple with what prayer is. No perfect answer, and so we go ahead as best we can. Maybe that's what 'Thy will be done' means. However we pray is  God's will. Today God's will is for me to pray for complete healing. Yesterday it was for peace to surround a person. Tomorrow? God knows, God's will will be done. 

0 Comments

Praying for physical and emotional healing

3/14/2023

0 Comments

 
Picture
 Thank you for your prayers for my friend. All went well, although there is pain, and a long road to independence ahead for her. It was easy to pray for her healing and for the things to go well with surgeon and nursing staff.  Praying for physical healing is just that. Of course, a prayer for things notto go well would be no prayer at all!   
     So what about prayers for mental healing? Like me, I'm sure you have people on your prayer list who are lost and suffering emotionally. Other than wanting them to be released from that pain, what do we pray for? How specific might we be? My prayer for them is less about specifics, and more about lifting them to the light and 'letting go and letting God." In the weeks and months to come, I will be including that kind of prayer for my friend. 

0 Comments

My on-going prayer challenge

11/17/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
There is a great deal to say about prayer; there is very little to say about prayer. Both are true! 
    Sometimes when I start writing for this blog, I tell myself, “Oh, come on, you’ve said that before. They know that!” 
    So why do I even continue? Why not add to ‘daily quotes’ and ‘word & image’ and leave it at that? Because, I’m still pondering this God mystery, this prayer mystery. I say the Jesus Prayer; I accept that prayer makes a difference, that God loves everyone, that my life is grace-filled, that our faith deepens when we read and ponder scripture, that I am called to pray for people….
    But all those come from my mind. The prayer challenge is for them to move to my heart, which is where prayer is, where God is, where love resides and where it can rise for others to feel.

0 Comments

Praying for those estranged

11/12/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
 My prayer book contains several categories: friends and  family, groups that I’m connected with (i.e. church), those grieving, those struggling with addiction… There is also has a category for people estranged from one other, which usually means family members. It is a list filled with sadness. Usually I don’t tell friends that I praying for their loved one, for them, or for the situation. For the efficiency of the prayer, they don’t need to know. 
    But sometimes I tell that I am praying for their ‘lost’ loved one, which is what I did recently. My friend’s response, “Oh, I’m so glad someone is praying for him.” My friend is alone and so is her estranged grown child. I’m praying for them both, heart to heart, no judgment, just love.

0 Comments

Prayer cues

6/11/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
I haven’t posted in the last few weeks but I have been praying, which seems like the most satisfying, comforting and hopeful thing I can  do these days. I start the day with good intentions but then life happens and I get distracted. But then, I get called back. It has to be God doing the calling because I know I’m too self-involved to take much credit. And yet,  I do believe that God is giving me a say in this prayer life of mine; God does not have robots! Rather I (all of us) am called to co-create with God. 
        I have my cues (I’d use the word triggers except I’m trying to stay away from war metaphors) to help me remember God; my meditation  time which has become hardwired into my life; my little post-it prayer list that I write each day; the Jesus prayer that arises from my subconscious; and my daily walk. 
  What signals do you have in your life to remind you to pray and lift yourself from worry and despair that arises when you think human kind, including yourself, is running  the show?


​

0 Comments

Praying scripture

4/5/2022

0 Comments

 
PicturePeter Paul Rubens
Lectio Divina is a popular, traditional way to study scripture. A Google search offer the following: 

Traditionally, Lectio Divina has four separate steps: read; meditate; pray; contemplate. First a passage of scripture is read, then its meaning is reflected upon. This is followed by prayer and contemplation on the Word of God.

    This process, which is laborious, time consuming, and intellectual, usually doesn’t fulfill my needs. When I go through the process I might feel ready to write paper for a divinity class, but I don’t feel prayerful, more loving, or closer to God, which is what I desire.
    Here is another, and clearly a simpler way to pray scripture, offered by the student minister at church on Sunday.
  1. Read a scripture.
  2. Ask where you see God in it.
  3. Ask where you see yourself in it.​
That’s it. Give it a try.

0 Comments
<<Previous
    Contact me
    [email protected]

    Archives

    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011

    Categories

    All
    55 Maxims Of Fr. Hopko
    Amy Carmichael
    Anne Lamott
    Art
    Assisi
    Awe
    Bede Griffiths
    Benedict
    Bible
    Billy Graham
    Blessing
    Bliss
    Bonhoeffer
    Books
    Breathe
    Brigit
    Call
    Canticle Of The Sun
    Celtic Daily Prayer
    Centering Prayer
    Christ
    Christian Life
    Christmas
    Church
    Cloud Of Unknowing
    Coleridge
    Communion
    Compassion
    Contemplation
    Contemplation And Action
    Contemplation And Action
    Cottage By The Sea
    Craft
    Cross Roads
    Cynthia Bourgeault
    Dad
    Daily Prayer
    David Steindl-Rast
    Death
    Death And Dying
    Desert Mothers And Fathers
    Desiderata
    Dietrich Bonhoeffer
    Doris Grumbach
    Dostoyevsky
    Easter
    Edin
    Edinburgh
    Emmet Fox
    Energy
    Epiphany
    Ermetic Life
    Eve Kiley
    Everyday Simplicity
    Faith
    Fasting
    Father Maximos
    Fear
    Florence
    Food
    Forgiveness
    Frederick Buechner
    Friends
    Fruit Of The Spirit
    Gardens
    Gift
    Giving And Receiving
    Giving Thanks
    Giving Thanks
    God Moment
    Grace
    Gratitude
    Harold Rohheiser
    Healing
    Health
    Heart
    Hildegard De Bigen
    Holy Spirit
    Holy Week
    Hope
    Hospitality
    Howard Thurman
    Humility
    Humor
    I Believe
    Icons
    Incarnation
    Intercessory Prayer
    Intercessory Prayer
    Iona
    Iona Prayer Circle
    Ireland
    Italy
    James Martin
    Jeffrey M. Gallagher
    Jesus
    Jesus Prayer
    Joan Chittister
    Job
    John Baillie
    Joy
    Julian Of Norwich
    Kate Tristram
    Katherine Paterson
    Kazantzakis
    Kinds Of Prayer
    Kingdom
    Kyriacos C. Markides
    Laura Hillenbrand
    Lent
    Louie Zamparini
    Love
    Madeline L'Engle
    Maranatha
    Margaret Bullitt Jonas
    Margaret Bullitt-Jonas
    Marsha Sinetar
    Martin B. Copenhaver
    Mary Luti
    Mary Oliver
    Matthew 25
    Max Ehrmann
    Meditation
    Meeting Jesus In The Gospel Of John
    Meister Eckhart
    Midrash
    Ministry
    Miracles
    Mom
    Monastery
    Monastery Of The Heart
    Morton Kelsey
    Mountain Of Silence
    Moving
    Music
    Mystery
    Nature
    Northumbria Community
    Now
    Oliver Herford
    Oswald Chambers
    Othona Community
    Outreach
    Oxyrtynchus Manuscript
    Pamela Dalton St. Francis
    Passivity
    Peace
    Phyllis Tickle
    Pilgrimage
    Pope Francis
    Praise
    Prayer
    Prayer List
    Prayer Questions
    Prayer Questions
    Prayer Shawls
    Prayer Walk
    Pray Without Ceasing
    Psalms
    Raven's Bread
    Reading
    Religious Orders
    Retreat
    Richard Rohr
    Robert Frost
    Robert J. Wicks
    Rome
    Ronald Rolheiser
    Ross King
    Rule Of Life
    Sabbath
    Sacred Places
    Sacrifice
    Scotland
    Scripture
    Silence
    Simone Weil
    Simplicity
    Sister Madonna Kolbenschlag
    Skye
    Society Of Saint John The Evangelist
    Sol
    Solitude
    Son Of Man
    Spiritual Exercises
    SSJE
    St Augustine685a78b5bd
    St Benedict2e69d019b8
    St Brigid8a489d0d27
    St. Francis
    St Francisda1a8c4071
    St Ignatius97c6861c0b
    Suffering
    Taize Lent743fec0e30
    Talking With God
    Thanksgiving
    Theophan The Recluse
    The Reader
    Thomas Keating
    Thomas Merton
    Thomas-merton
    Thy Will Be Done
    Trinity
    Unbroken
    Upper Room
    Walking With God
    Walter Ciszek
    Way Of A Pilgrim
    Welcoming Prayer
    Wm Paul Young757e23b986
    Wonder
    Writing

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly