The Sound of Rushing Water

Isn't that a great title? Sounds pretty poetic, like a waterfall. You'll find out that the reality isn't so romantic, but hang in there.

So now that I've given you a couple updates on community life here, I'd like to fill you in on the "inside update" (how many directions do you think I can get going here? Is this an "outgoing inside update?" :)

God has been really nailing me with one idea over the last two weeks: the need to pray. I've always been a huge fan of prayer, and prayer has always felt very natural to me - probably because of my parents' examples and being raised in a prayerful church.

However, the kind of prayer that I'm comfortable with is like working with your best friend. I'm used to just bringing up anything I'm thinking about or worrying over to God and receiving His peace. I'm used to sending up pleas for help as I try to deal with a difficult situation and to thank Him when they pass. God and I are great conversationalists together. He is the friend walking beside me all day long and nodding at anything and everything I want to chat with him about as I go about my work.

But here is the kind of prayer that has always eluded me. The go-lock-yourself-away-in-a-closet-and-wear-holes-in-the-carpet kind of prayer. I've always had two problems with trying to step out of the race and just sit to pray: I fall asleep or my mind wanders off to something else. I inevitably leave feeling a sense of failure (or wake up the next morning wondering how far I got down my prayer list before they turned into dreams).

The phenomenon I've experienced over the last week is that I have not only felt a need for that kind of prayer, but I've felt a burning passion to go do it. It started with a promise to very dedicatedly pray for one person. I figured I would keep up with that like I always have, by sending up one- or two- liners to God every time that person came to mind. But then I read a chapter in a book called, "The Life You Always Wanted" by John Ortberg, entitled "Interrupting Heaven". The great title (which he got from Revelation where it talks about the agenda of heaven, all the singing and praising, etc, being interrupted by the prayers of the saints) was just the beginning of some great insights into the kind of prayer I was feeling was missing from my life.

Among other things, Ortberg had two suggestions that I really appreciated. The first addressed my attention span problem - Ortberg commented that his prayer life really improved when he realized that his mind wandered for a reason. It naturally wandered to things that he probably needed to deal with anyway and who better to bring them to than God?

The second was to consistently separate yourself from the things that tend to distract you and pray for just a short time, every day. Consistency is much more important than length of time and helps us learn the discipline in a reasonable way rather than leave you with the sense of failure that comes when we try to accomplish a huge, unrealistic goal.

So, these last two weeks I've been trying these two things and now I find I can't get enough time to pray - and the people who need prayer seem to be coming out of the woodwork. My favorite prayer closet is what is used to be an old bathroom - and I've gotten pretty used to the sudden sound of rushing water going through the pipes if someone decides to take a shower next door :) I just pretend it is the sound of the Holy Spirit rushing out to answer prayer . . .

If you would like to join me in prayer, here are some of the top requests on my list:

1. Leán - for healing and forgiveness in his family

2. Carla and Mario - for God's provision to get Mario a visa to the US and wisdom for decisions that Carla must make now about the summer.

3. Alice - for her relationships at Lee Abbey

4. LA Community - for new members to settle in and find their niche here; also for the new warden who will start in April.

5. Samuel - for a focused mind to study German and English, for God's direction for his future after his time in Germany

6. Pedro - for his opportunity to teach at a church youth camp this week; for starting university again next month after having taken a year off.

Obrigada meus irmãos e irmãs queridas!
(Thank you my dear brothers and sisters!)