Contemplative prayer – Page 9

Category: Contemplative prayer

Child’s Play

11 August 2021 blogpastor Leave a comment

This picture caught my attention more than others I took that day. Sometimes I intuitively sense that the photo has more than lines, light and shadows. It is more than just an interesting composition. It is worth going back to it, gaze at it in stillness and silence, and let the Spirit blow as he wills.

I find myself going back to my childhood. I do not remember either of my parents playing with me. I remember playing with my younger sister but not my older brothers. I felt forlorn. Maybe they did play with me but I could not remember. How could I not remember when I remember playing with my sister? Were they too busy? – he with work and her with raising five children. I wonder if this left an unfilled hole in my soul.

BEING LOVED WITHOUT KNOWING

I suddenly realise Christ, the Eternal One, was present to me in my childhood. He loved me even though I did not know him. I find myself comforted, like he was saying to me, “I was there with you, playing, accompanying you, when you were a child. I delighted in you.” The thought of this was so delicious, I felt comforted and blessed, and welcomed his love, there and then in front of the photo on my iPad. “Lord, thank you for being with me all along. I do not need to feel deprived of parental love. You loved me. Thank you, Lord, for this sense of peace and comfort.”

I thank God that by his grace when I became a parent I played with my kids – enjoying their company, the smiles, the cycling, card games, street soccer in void decks and basketball. Now that I think of it, I left them pleasant memories of play. Lord, thank you .

Too many parents have lost the joy of play. They love challenging their children to do better at school and fill their schedules with tuition and enrichment classes. Why not play with your children? Besides sports and outdoor stuff, there are lots of board games. Play is play when there is no utilitarian purpose achieved, besides fun and enjoyment. If there are benefits, they are a bonus. If none at all, play anyway.

PLAY BECOMING ENDEMIC DURING THE PANDEMIC

A child jumps around the hall and makes monkey noises. There is no purpose at all besides sheer fun. No noble end achieved. It is pure play. We adults have lost that and need to rediscover it with our kids. And for ourselves too. Many people have observed that the pandemic has prodded, even driven adults to rediscover and reclaim play. From gardening to board-games, from cycling to cooking, from hiking to painting and drawing, adults are returning to reclaiming the art of play.

Play is becoming endemic during the pandemic.

Some good is coming out of bad. I am glad this is happening. Satan is not. God is.

Dealing With Inner Noise During Prayer

4 August 2021 blogpastor Leave a comment

“It felt like monkeys jumping from branches to branches. More than one monkey.” The person was talking about the experience of preparing to pray and meditate. This is common and something we need to expect and learn to stay calm about, take action and carry on.

THE CHALLENGE OF INNER NOISE

Our mind is like a river carrying floating dry leaves across our mind in an endless stream. Many of these thoughts are insignificant and lightweight and could be ignored with a mere switch off in our soul. They merely come and disappear as quickly as the stream of water passing by.

The difficulty is when these thoughts, ideas, problems, burdens, emotions, experiences swirl around. It could be your mind trying to solve a problem, flirting with a new idea, remembering something that needed to be done, someone to call, feeling a mood or dominant emotion that suddenly surfaces onto consciousness, or worries and concerns that weigh on you, or a difficult decision to make. They keep pestering. They refuse to leave. Like a float you push underwater, they pop up again and again. If we do not do something with them we might end up totally focused on these matters, feeling spent at the end of all the thinking, and feeling drawn away from God’s life-giving presence.

TWO METHODS TO HANDLE “MONKEYS”

There are two methods for handling this. One is to make a record of them in a journal, notebook or phone. Record them with the intention of getting back to them later after you have given yourself to meditation and prayer. Giving them a place of existence, a number in the queue, will placate them, or rather re-assure yourself that these matters will be taken up and will not be forgotten. It gives you peace of mind since they have been set apart safely to be looked at later. This is a prayer aid that will help you focus on meditation of God’s word and prayer first. When you later come back after prayer, to the list to discuss them with the Lord, you may find that the meditation you had was timely in giving you a timely word or godly perspective, and the prayer time had strengthened your faith to view the list differently.

A second way is to pray through and discuss with the Lord all the items you have recorded before going into your meditation of the word and prayer. This is particularly good when the first method was futile as you kept thinking about the problem or your swirling emotions and desire refused to be calmed. Let these problems, burdens, emotions and desires be the subject of your conversation and discussion with the Lord. As you talk to the Lord as a friend speaks to a friend, you will find that it is not mere monologue but an exchange is going on. Thoughts and inspiration and ideas and perspectives may dawn on you in prayer. New desires and self-control may overtake your anxious, angry and greedy soul. You may find that this alone had taken all the time you had allotted and there is no time for meditation on his word. It does not matter. You have prayed. You have had communion with the Lord.

I am sure there are other useful methods readers have tried. I am sure if you take some time to share what worked for you, it would be of help to other pray-ers too. The comment button is below the title of this blogpost.

Breathe slow, breathe deep

30 July 2021 blogpastor Leave a comment

One of the things I learned from being in prayer retreats is the importance of a rested body to prayer. I would be encouraged by the spiritual director to settle in and relax, take walks and sleep as much as I needed. He knew from experience that many Singaporeans who came for retreats were usually tense, wound up, and drained. To start praying with such a state of mind and body would be counter-productive. A day or two would be needed to unwind, sleep well, and eat well and be in a better state to be alert and to pray.

Like it or not we are not mere spirit beings. We have a body as well, and it affects our emotions, mental concentration and spiritual alertness. I learned that I prayed better when I was better rested. I attended better to the Scriptures, meditation, and prayer.

When this learning is applied to my regular prayer and meditation it meant that I usually gave some time for slowing down, quieting myself, and to let myself dial down physically by taking slow and deep breaths for several minutes, typically ten minutes, sometimes for double that. I would consciously slow down my breathing and would seek to be more conscious of God’s presence with me before I start my reading or meditation of scriptures or other spiritual exercise.

When I first started out on this practice I would set my timer to ten minutes of silence and deep breathing. I did this because my temptation would be to quickly get productive and efficient and finish my “quiet time” or “lectio divina”. The timer held me back from diving straight in before I was in a better place to be receptive to God.

Moses was 40 days in the mountain before God revealed Himself and gave him the ten commandments. Couldn’t God do it more quickly? Wouldn’t three days be sufficient? I do not have a definitive answer. Perhaps God was ready to give Moses the ten commandments but Moses was not ready to receive the revelation. Just a thought.

Try this out. It is an aid to prayer. Unwind. Relax. Breathe slowly and deeply for ten minutes or more if needed. Before you read, meditate, reflect or pray.