I just had a wonderful weekend with some wonderful ladies in my life (including my mom!) and I referenced Richard Foster's book on
Prayer. I realized that I had referenced it quite a bit in recent posts over the past couple years, and have mentioned that I can never seem to get past the first chapter on "Simple Prayer". While I think it's ok to be "stuck" in a phase of prayer, and indeed, as Foster says, we will probably
never outgrow this type of prayer, I think using that fact as an excuse to not get through the rest of the book is doing me a disservice. :)
So going back to a
long gone post, I think I shall pick up this book again and give it a go. I will try to read a chapter every week or so and attempt to just focus on this form of prayer for the week. And write about it! Of course I will always come back to the beginning, but at this point in my life, I'm ready to keep moving forward. I desire very much to start digging into spiritual disciplines!
2 comments:
I am encouraged by your comment about "Prayer" by Richard Foster. I was in a Bible study that worked through is "Discipline for Discipleship" and found it challenging too. Maybe I need to pray more before I begin reading his works.
Sorry I didn't see this until just now! I think the trick is that, there's no improper time to start praying and no real "right" way to do it. That's what simple prayer is about. Just simply communicating with God on a raw and perhaps not very dignified level.
So yes, pray before reading Foster's works, but also pray during and after! And if it seems like prayer is hard, believe that "the Spirit intercedes for us, with groans that words cannot express." Believe me, I say this to myself too! We are all on this journey together, we are not alone in the joy and struggle. I hope you are well.
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