Read

“My God, My God. Why hast thou forsaken me”
– David

This prayer might be the equivalent of:

• telling your spouse or partner, “Do you not love me anymore?”
• telling your manager, “do you NOT care about my work/life balance?”
• telling people on social media, “do you even think, bro?!”

The last one is a stretch, but we are in a digital age where key strokes can disregulate monks and popes.

For Christ followers, prayer is the means by which we hear from God. While we share with God our hopes, frustrations, and requests, prayer is about listening and aligning ourselves to His will and purposes (your kingdom come, your will be done).

But prayer is also very vulnerable and scary. It is already difficult to share how we feel and what we are thinking, let alone to share that with God.

What really gives me anxiety in prayer is being silent. I’m afraid I won’t hear anything. I’m afraid of the silence. I can’t pretend, impress, or manipulate God in silence.

Yet it is in silence where we hear God’s words of belovedness towards his children. It is where we hear, “peace be with you”. And it is ultimately where we hear that we belong to God.

Reflect

What challenges do you have with prayer? What have you tried in the past? What might help for you to pray?

Act