A while back, I taught on the theme of “Prayer Ruts I’ve Found Myself In.” I wonder if any of these sound familiar to you.

More Monologue than Dialogue

First, I sometimes get stuck seeing prayer as more monologue than dialogue. I forget that prayer is a relationship, and that relationships are conversational. I learn to allow space when I pray for silence and listening. I don’t fill the air with and endless barrage of words, making the mistake of thinking...

How do we learn to live an unhurried life in such a busy, anxious world? How can I cultivate an unhurried heart when there is so much on my plate? I recently found some wise guidance reflecting on Psalm 27. Let me share what I learned.

Remember Who God Is

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
      whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
    of whom shall I be afraid?
    Ps 27:4

David begins with God. Sounds...

I’ve often told the story of my first experience of solitude and silence on January 19, 1990. It was led by one of my mentors, Wayne Anderson, as part of a class I was taking at Fuller Seminary. I tell a little of that story in An Unhurried Life (p. 20f), but I have never shared the full journal entry from that day until now. It is page 1 of my journal that today, 26 years later, runs over 8,700 pages.

That journal has captured my attempt to practice a long obedience in the same...

I have found a way to reduce much of the stress in my life. Actually, let me re-phrase that: A way to reduce much of the stress in my life found me. I wasn’t looking for this stress reducer, but it hit me like an 18-wheeler and set me on a new path.

Much of the stress in my life is caused by my expectations,as well as my trying to controlsituations so they turn out the way I think they should. This happens consciously and unconsciously. Lovely.

For example, a few years ago I took...

I lead a lot of day retreats that have at the heart of them a number of hours to be alone and quiet in listening prayer. I led one on Friday. Earlier this year, one participant shared a conversation she had with a pastor who suggested that “There is no biblical precedent for listening prayer.” I found that an interesting comment. Below are some “bullets” of initial response I journaled later that day:

• The whole of the scriptures are an extended story of conversation...

I lead a lot of day retreats that have at the heart of them a number of hours to be alone and quiet in listening prayer. I led one on Friday. Earlier this year, one participant shared a conversation she had with a pastor who suggested that “There is no biblical precedent for listening prayer.” I found that an interesting comment. Below are some “bullets” of initial response I journaled later that day:

• The whole of the scriptures are an extended story of conversation...

Enjoy these phrases from Psalm 63, and the prayers that flow from them.

1O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Lord, You really are my God. I am coming to seek you as earnestly as I know how. My soul is thirsty for You alone. Even my body aches to know You more deeply. This parched place through which I journey only intensifies my longings. I am not finding refreshment or...

With the theme of retreat in mind, I recently reviewed a book by Thomas Green titled A Vacation with the Lord. This was one very helpful insight he shared:

“I always suggest that three guidelines for a good retreat are, as a Dominican sister-friend of mine once noted, ESP: to eat well, to sleep well, and to pray the rest of the time. This means that I make it a real vacation. I don’t just give the Lord part of my time and part of myself; rather I seek, in the classic monastic...