Friday, March 18, 2011

A Practice of Prayer

In high school and part of college I kept a prayer journal. Honestly, it was sort of a diary in that I did a lot of venting, selfish praying and daily logging. At that time, I talked a lot about boys, friends, family issues and school problems. I need to dig those journals out and re-live those days. There are prayers in there from some tough times and I have no doubt I will run across some pretty funny stuff too. Ahh, the problems of a high school girl.

I have grown up a lot and I view prayer a little differently now. We have been talking a lot about prayer in our Tribe (community group) lately. It's crazy how differently people view prayer and the different practices across our group. We started a Lenten practice last week that I am so excited about. Each of us was grouped with a couple of other people and each day we e-mail our daily prayer to those people. It holds us accountable to actively sit down and pray each day. The best thing about this practice is that it allows us to open our hearts to our faith community. It may be behind the safety of a computer screen, but it's a start.

I also found that yoga has really revived my personal prayer life. I find myself going early and staying for a while afterward. I find a place of peace and relaxation, and it allows me to really focus my thoughts and my heart toward God.

I hope my prayer life continues to mature as my faith matures. It's hard sometimes and I have so many questions about prayer. But, no matter what, I always feel great after a little talk with my Maker.