The Written Word
17 September 2010
Last Spring I did a Bible study that talked ever-so-briefly about prayer. It was a blip of a paragraph about how prayer should be life-altering, that it takes sacrifice. Then the writer moved right on to other stuff, leaving me with that feeling of, “Hey, wait, can we talk about that a little longer?”
My prayer life has basically been limited to praying at meals, praying at night as I doze off, and the occasional prayer of crisis where I have the kids stop what they’re doing and we take a minute to pray for so-and-so.
This is something I’m working on.
Progress has been sloooooow.
On Monday, at the service for my aunt, the pastor talked about what a woman of prayer Penny was. Which I knew, though I didn’t realize the extent of it. Not until the pastor shared passages from her prayer journals and it was clear how devoted Penny was to her conversations with God.
The amount of time she put into it … I’m sure it was hours a week. Maybe even hours a day. And I thought, “That is what the Bible study author meant when he talked about sacrifice.”
I wish my aunt were around so I could ask her how she progressed to that point. I’m sure she trained for many years to reach that place in her prayer life, and I wanted to know what she thought would be a good next step for me.
After her service, I was alone in Penny’s room and noticed a stack of books placed inside a glass-doored cupboard. I’m a book girl, so I went to see her selections.
Writing books.
My aunt never published anything, and as far as I know, it wasn’t a goal of hers. Instead she wrote privately for the Lord, and it appears she was determined to make it as worthy as possible.
I don’t know what the answer is for everybody in regards to taking prayer life to the next level, but for me I feel it’s writing them down. Everything else I write – e-mails, blog posts, novels – has a public purpose. I look forward to seeing what kind of fruit comes from using my talent for a private audience.
Have a great weekend everybody!
Comments
Lol, yeah, something about seeing ourselves there on the page…
It still doesn’t feel very natural to me. I’m hoping it will with practice.
Posted by Stephanie Morrill on 20 September 2010
I used to write down my prayers all the time—less so since the kiddos came along, but it really is a great way to give God your heart. I’ve also found that it keeps my prayers focused and in check—it’s hard to get so whiny as I do in verbal prayers when it’s staring at you in black and white from the page. ;-)
Posted by Roseanna White on 17 September 2010