Courageously Faithful: Living a Life of Prayer

Workshop # 11
Mary Glazer and Kristina Keefe-Perry

This workshop is for those who long to pray without ceasing. With God’s guidance, we will explore how prayer – and God’s presence – might live larger in us. Through a variety of contemplative exercises, we will open ourselves to the awesome and counter-cultural wonder of living in deeper awareness of God’s presence.

Percentage of time:
Worship/worship-sharing 45; Lecture 5; Discussion 10; Experiential 40

Open to all

This workshop is for those who long to move into that space where they are praying without ceasing (1 Thes 5:17), whether they are in meeting for worship or engaging with a challenging family member; whether they are in a cathedral of creation (perhaps deep in the woods or high on a mountain) or at their job doing routine or stressful tasks; whether the are on a sublime retreat or in the midst of a highly stimulating environment.

The more we sink into prayer, the more we become aware of God’s presence – and the more we become aware that God is present all ways and all times. As we come together in this contemplative workshop, we will together hold our longing for deeper communion with the Divine Creator. We will open ourselves to the prayer that is deep within us, to the prayer that surrounds us, to the prayer that is in the very air that we breathe.

With God’s grace and guidance, we will explore how that prayer – and God’s presence – might live larger in us and in our awareness, day by day and moment by moment. We will open ourselves to the awesome wonder that is this: when we are in God’s presence, we are on sacred ground. We are always in God’s presence. We are always on sacred ground. We are always in a place of prayer.

It is profoundly counter-cultural, and perhaps revolutionary, to live from the deep, Spirit-filled, prayerful place of worship in our day-to-day lives. It is also counter-cultural to ground our activism and actions of faith deeply in prayer. The temptation, it seems, is to act first and pray if there is time. When we succumb to that temptation, while we certainly do good works, we are also likely to lose touch with the Source who leads us. This can lead to burn-out, disillusionment, and a life out of alignment with the Spirit. It also, I believe, dilutes the transforming power of our actions. When we ground our life in prayer and a turning to God, our actions become acts of faith, hope and love springing forth from the Living Water.

Though there are many traditions of prayer, the material we provide will focus primarily on Christian traditions (though all who have other approaches to prayer are welcome). Through worship, worship sharing, lectio divina, small group dialogue, journaling, working with clay and other activities, we will use the spaciousness of the week to begin to sink into that place of prayer. We will practice living in that place of prayer as we move through the many activities of the Gathering: the meal lines; the interest groups; the encounters with friends old and new; the points of conflict, joy, serenity and over-stimulation. While this workshop is not a ‘how to pray’ workshop, we will have opportunities to pray together and we will provide resources on prayer that participants may find helpful.

Suggested Preparation
You may want to begin to notice how prayer is – or isn’t – present in your life, and notice how you feel about that. You may also want to begin spiritual disciplines that create more openings for prayer in your day-to-day life. In addition, it might be helpful to record in your journal what happens with you as you begin to turn more intentionally toward a life of prayer. And, if you feel led, you may want to read on the topic. The following books are some that we have found to be helpful. While some of the books may inform what we do in the workshop, we will not use the material from the books as curriculum. They are only meant to be used as possible ways to open us more fully into prayer. However, no reading is necessary for full participation in the workshop.

Too Deep for Words: Rediscovering Lectio Divina

Thelma Hall

Listening Spirituality, Volume 1: Personal Spiritual Practices Among Friends

Patricia Loring

Living in the Presence: Spiritual Exercises to Open Our Lives to the Awareness of God

Tilden Edwards

Beginning to Pray

Anthony Bloom

Dark Night of the Soul

Gerald May

A Testament of Devotion

Thomas Kelly

Sabbath Time

Tilden Edwards

New Seeds of Contemplation

Thomas Merton

Practicing His Presence

Brother Lawrence & Frank Laubach

Prayer

Richard Foster