Connecting With God

Time in solitude may at first seem little more than a time in which we are bombarded by thousands of thoughts and feelings that emerge from hidden areas of our minds. One of the early Christian writers describes the first stage of solitary prayer as the experience of a man who, after years of living with open doors, suddenly decides to shut them. The visitors who used to come and enter his home start pounding on his doors, wondering why they are not allowed to enter. Only when they realize that they are not welcome do they gradually stop coming. - Henri Nouwen

Our week of silence and stillness begins simply:

Spend 5 minutes in quiet. There is no other purpose other to be alone with your thoughts, to make space for God to perhaps to speak.

Find a comfortable space away from intruding noises. A walk, or the seat of your car is fine. Set your phone for a 5 minute timer. Find a comfortable position, but not for falling asleep. Slowly breath in and out three or four times.

Start your time with the Daily Prayer from Psalm 130:

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord; O Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.

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Finish your time with the Daily Prayer from Psalm 130:

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.
More than watchmen wait for the morning.
More than watchmen wait for the morning.

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For those who heard the sermon yesterday, HERE is the pie graph of the 7 ways people connect with God. HERE is a document that describes those pathways. The two do not match up exactly (the pie graph was designed to have both ‘serving’ and ‘activist’ in the same category and includes ‘scripture’ as a separate category). There’s no science to this. Rather, it’s simply an invitation to consider the ways that you connect best with God and to give you permission to do so.