Lord, Open My Ears...
In conversation about prayer, when I ask people what prayer is, I usually get some variation of "Talking to God." Not very unusual at all!
This is for the most part what our prayers are like... we tend to project our communication to God. Since we learned to pray, we've probably been praying mostly with words - whether Petitionary prayer, or Thanksgiving prayer, or anything in between.
But stop to think about this a little, and you see this gives the impression that communication with the divine is for the most part -consciously or not, intentionally or not- one way. We think this is the extent of "prayer" probably because we've not been taught another way.
So if our prayers tend to be "speaking" prayers... when do we "listen"? And how do we listen?
Like any skill, listening takes practice... particularly listening to God! Listening has, at it's foundation, the idea of awareness. We must train ourselves to become more "aware".
So, Listening prayer in three easy steps! (Yeah, right!!)
Step one - Quieting down.
Sit quietly
Take some slow breaths to just settle yourself down physically and psychologically
Step Two - Notice your own mind
You'd be surprised how much our minds "go". Buddhists call this "monkey mind" (you'll find out why). Monkeys go from thing to thing, jumping around from branch to branch.
So... relax. Notice - without judgement (I know it's hard to do) - and just watch how much your mind jumps around.
Step Three - Settle the mind
You can either focus on one thing in specific;
Like a phrase (biblical or otherwise) -said slowly, and calmly
A variation is to use beads with prayers (like a rosary of some kind) -
Or use a candle flame - just watch it, nothing else
Or just counting (or also watching) your breaths - In (1) Out (2) In (3) Out (4)
This option gives your monkey-mind something to do ("Here, play with this!").
Or... option two is to focus on nothing at all which is a little more tempting to the monkey-mind. See, here, the monkey-mind has nothing to play with.. so it will find it's own playthings.
Either option helps to first, notice there is a tremendous amount of noise inside of us - you'll see there's a real dinner party going on in us.
And second, this helps us quiet all that noise down.
Start out with just a few minutes at a time. At this step, you'll REALLY see how much your mind wants to jump around!
And it will!
And it's okay! You're not stupid, or a loser, or anything of the sort... just normal!
Just gently bring your focus back to what you are focusing on.
And over time you'll notice (usually after the fact) that you are able to focus a little more.
You can add a few more minutes as you feel more comfortable with this practice.
There are many variations to this.
I've taught my son to meditate while lying down - just before sleeping time. It's good, because this can certainly make you so relaxed that you end up falling asleep before you're done... and since you're lying down already... well, that's good.
Meditation can lower blood pressure, lower stress hormone levels in the body, raises our immune response (lower stress levels does that) and our sense of self-awareness. The health effect are measurable.
But, you ask... what does this have to do with listening? In that vein, the main point really is to relax and settle down (the body, the mind, the spirit, etc.) And the quieter we are, the more easily we're able to discern things, because we're more aware. And the more aware we are, by definition, the more we notice... the more we're tuned-in.
Perhaps you'll pick up more nuance, you'll be more in touch with you - with what's happening inside your own body, you'll be more in touch with the world of the Spirit too. You can actually "listen" better.
And then, you'll be in a more perceptive state when God does indeed have something to say to you.
Student: Why do I have to do all these tedious disciplines? Will they give me more control of
things out there?
Teacher: You'll have about as much control as you have in making the sun rise in the morning.
Student: Then why do them?
Teacher: So when the sun does rise... you'll notice!
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