In his book, Willard breaks the spiritual disciplines into two types, Disciplines of Abstinence and Disciplines of Engagement. I am going to start by focusing on one discipline from each camp. It seems to me that prayer is a great place to start anything, so for engagement, I choose prayer. (This feels a bit like deal or no deal). From the abstinence list, there are many that go very well with prayer. I am going to begin with the discipline of solitude. I think I’m drawn to this one first because of how little time I spend now practicing this discipline. Even when I’m alone in the car I have friends on the radio, other drivers on the road, and even the shortest car trip wouldn’t be the same without a cell phone call or two.
Prayer is a rather deep and ever widening practice, and it is surely so much more than a discipline for following Christ. It is at its greatest a “co-laboring with God to accomplish good things and advance his Kingdom purposes,” as Willard puts it. However, as a discipline, and coordinated with the other disciplines, prayer can also be a way of changing our habits. Like any habit, the more we pray, the more we think to pray. I am going to do this, first, in times of solitude. When I pray, I find myself so easily distracted. Even this morning I was praying in the basement of our house, but found myself drifting into uncontrolled thoughts by the movement of my family upstairs. By getting alone, I hope to remove some of the distractions that usually plague my prayer life.
Many of the people reading this blog are friends whose spiritual lives inspire me. If you don’t think that means you, it probably does. One of the reasons I’m making this a public journey is to solicit your advice and wisdom. How do you pray? Do you often seek times of solitude?
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
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