I hate to admit this, but I’ve been to my share of boring prayer meetings. That’s not at all to imply that God is boring—He absolutely, positively is not! But sometimes the way we talk to Him at our corporate prayer meetings suggests a different story.

Thankfully, I’ve also been to a good number of engaging prayer meetings. There are different ways to involve groups of people and help them make their conversations with God lively and relevant, but the one I want to mention here is the worship-based intercession format that some of my friends in the prayer movement teach at their semi-annual prayer summits.

It is not too late to register for Reaching the Summit, taking place next Tuesday through Thursday, August 4-6 on the campus of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. Well, maybe for most of you it really is too late because you already have other commitments. I realize that’s not much notice for you. But if you’re in the Fort Worth or Dallas area, I really recommend you check it out. I’ll be there, and I’m excited.

The event, hosted by Pray! authors Daniel Henderson, Phil Miglioratti, and Dennis Fuqua, will feature “Spirit-led, worship-fed, corporate-bred” prayer. And here’s the cool part: the goal of the prayer summit is two fold. First, participants get to experience this meaningful prayer experience. Second, they are trained to go back to their churches and ministries and lead others in vital corporate prayer.

For more information on Reaching the Summit, visit www.reachingthesummit.net, or call Lori at 916-489-4774.  

If you can’t make this prayer summit, there will be more in the future, so stay tuned. And in the meantime, check out these articles by Daniel, Phil, and Dennis for inspiration on how to make your corporate prayer times livelier:

Suprised by Shouting
Expanding Your Prayer Meeting
Prayer Summits Are for Everyone

Or if you already have tried-and-true ways of engaging folks in corporate prayer, by all means, please share them with the rest of us.

I’m blogging from a writer’s conference in Montrose, Pennsylvania, where I’ve been teaching writing from a stately Victorian home that once belonged to pastor, author, (How to Pray) and evangelist R. A. Torrey. There’s a tower in this 101-year-old house from which Torrey is said to have made a habit of praying.

I met a woman at the writer’s conference yesterday who had visited the prayer tower for her morning talk with God. “Do you believe in sacred spaces?” she asked. “The moment I walked in I was overwhelmed by God’s presence.”

Interesting question. Do hours of fervent praying in a certain place somehow infuse that place with the tangible presence of the Holy? I know I can’t answer that question with any degree of confidence. But I also know that I’ve also had the experience of entering a place to meet with God and wondering if it was a “thin place,” which is what Celtic Christians used to call physical places where the veil between earth and heaven seems more transparent.  

Jacob, who encountered God at a certain place he subsequently called “Bethel,” seems to have believed in thin places. “When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, ‘Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.’ He was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven."

Thin places, sacred spaces—are they real? Do they matter? I don’t know. Obviously, with the Spirit of God dwelling in us, we can meet with God any time, anywhere. Still, there’s a special spot in my house where I meet God every morning. He and I spend hours there together. When I walk by that place, it’s as if a welcome mat is there, drawing me into a conversation with God. I don’t know if anyone else can sense His presence there, but I can, and it helps me connect with Him more readily.

What about you? What do you think about sacred spaces?

“I just love Him!” Jan* told me as she emerged from her room at the retreat center after a time of listening prayer. Her face positively glowed. I’d just given the retreatants suggestions on how to give their heavenly Father space and opportunity to speak to their hearts. And Jan got it. I mean, she really got it.

“I didn’t even know relationship like this with Him was possible!” Jan said. She had heard from God very personally. The Holy Spirit in her spirit was crying, “Abba, Father.” I won’t soon forget the look of joy and wonder on Jan’s face. In fact, when I read Luke 9 this morning, I was reminded of her. “As [Jesus] was praying, the appearance of his face was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white” (verse 29, NLT).

We’re not told what exactly happened to Jesus while He was talking with His Father, but we do know that His experience is not entirely unique. In Exodus 34:29 we’re told that Moses’ “face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD.” And, trust me, Jan’s face was also glowing after God had spoken to her.

Will you and I glow when we pray? I don’t know. It’s a mystery, of course, and that’s not really the point. But I do know that consciously being quiet before Him, asking Him to manifest Himself, giving Him room to speak, and expecting Him to do so transforms me. That fact motivates me to take time alone with Him, quietly, with no agenda except to be in His presence. How about you?





 

 

I wish I had something profound or even merely a bit helpful to say about the subject of vague prayers, but I don’t. However, I want to point you to someone who does. If you read Pray! for a while, you probably know the name Timothy Jones. Tim is an Episcopalian minister and former Christianity Today editor who wrote for both Pray! and Discipleship Journal magazines.

If you miss reading his thoughts on prayer—as I do—then you’ll be happy to hear about his blog, “Life Changing Prayer.” Tim blogs regularly. The posting about vague prayers showed up July 4, 2009.

If you want to read more from Tim, check out the Pray! and Discipleship Journal archives:

“Good Times”

“Comparison Trap”

“Borrowed Prayers”

“Learning to Let Go”

And as always, we want to hear from you. Do you have thoughts or experiences about vague prayers? Join the conversation!

I like Paul Miller’s new book, A Praying Life (https://www.navpress.com/product/9781600063008/A-Praying-Life-Paul-E-Miller). I don’t say that just because NavPress published it. I like it because Miller talks to us where we’re at—in the mess of life with its busyness, disappointments, cynicism, and pressures. Anybody can pray on a retreat on the beach or in a quiet cabin in the mountains, right? But what about if you are the parent of six children, one of whom is handicapped? Or if you have a demanding ministry that often keeps you away from home and always puts you in constant interaction with people? Or if you’ve had too many experiences of praying and nothing seeming to happen?

Miller speaks from all of those experiences and more. His busy ministry and large family don’t serve him hours of solitude in which to develop his prayer life. But his busy ministry and large family are exactly what have caused him to see his need to pray.

“When our kids were two, five, eight, twelve, fourteen, and sixteen, I wrote this in my prayer journal:

‘March 19, 1991. Amazing how when I don’t pray in the morning evil just floods into our home. I absolutely must pray! Oh, God, give me the grace to pray.

“It took me seventeen years to realize I couldn’t parent on my own. It was not a great spiritual insight, just a realistic observation. If I didn’t pray deliberately and reflectively for members of my family by name every morning, they’d kill one another. I was incapable of getting inside their hearts. I was desperate. But even more, I couldn’t change my self-confident heart. My prayer journal reflects both my inability to change my kids and my inability to change my self-confidence. That’s why I need grace even to pray. . . . It didn’t take me long to realize I did my best parenting by prayer. I began to speak less to the kids and more to God.”

But there are no shortcuts to developing a praying life, Miller says. So this book is not for people who hope to develop deep connection with God in three minutes a day. It is for people who realize that without relationship with God they are sunk. That certainly describes me. If it describes you, too, then I suggest reading Miller’s book. Or try a free three-chapter sample by downloading it from the Pray! website home page.
 

I was talking to someone recently who doubted that God would speak to her personally. Although she asks God questions and waits in silence for Him to reply, what she hears in those quiet moments sounds to her just like her own thoughts.

I asked her to describe some of the things she hears during those times. When she did, I commented, “Those sound like the kinds of things God would say.” Although she nodded, I could tell she wasn’t convinced. For her, the problem wasn’t really the content so much as it was the mode of communication. My friend just really couldn’t imagine God talking to her and using her own thoughts to do it.

An idea came to me: “Mary,* do you think the enemy ever talks to you?”

“Oh yes, he does, far too often!”

“Does he use an audible voice, then?”

“No, not an audible voice.”

“How, then?”

“Well,” she said, hesitating, “I guess he talks to me through my own thoughts.” She smiled. “Yeah, I see what you’re saying. If the enemy talks to me using my own thoughts and he’s just a counterfeiter, then I suppose God might speak to me through my own thoughts, too. Okay, I need to rethink this.”

Mary was seeing a simple truth that it has taken me years to realize: God is spirit. Although He can speak to His children in audible voices, through angel visitations, dreams, burning bushes, talking donkeys, or any other spectacular means, He most often speaks to us Spirit-to-spirit, in His still small voice (see 1 Kings 19:12; 1 Corinthians 2:10-14).

We do need to discern what we are hearing, of course. But I want to be careful not to miss God’s speaking to me simply because He often chooses to do it through my thoughts. What about you?

*Not her real name
 

 I am really looking forward to a vacation with my young-adult son. We’re going to Durango, Colorado for the western experience: breakfast trail ride with cowboy stories around the fire, a jeep ride in the canyon, white-water rafting, Mesa Verde National Park—the works. It’ll be good to spend that time together in such a beautiful location.

The only problem is, vacations upset the spiritual routine that I rely on to keep me consistent with God. Vacations mean living in close quarters with someone whose habits are different from mine. Adapting to a new environment. Being away from my prayer spot where reflection and engagement with God comes easily. And, to be honest, being more self-focused. After all, isn’t vacation about getting away, relaxing, and having fun—about taking care of me?

Thankfully, prayer is about relationship not regimen or ritual. And because God and I both care about our relationship, we’ll find ways to stay in communication with one another. What exactly they’ll look like I’m not sure yet. Maybe I’ll let you know when I get back. But for now, does anyone out there identify with my vacation-and-prayer challenge? How do you keep in touch with God when you’re in vacation mode?