Pathways Press.com

Written by Whitney Hopler, a contemporary author and editor.

I used to follow a long and complicated routine for my devotional time with God each morning. By incorporating various prayer and meditation methods I’d learned about into that routine, I was trying to maximize my spiritual growth. One day, however, I had to cast my entire routine aside to get to an early morning work appointment. All I had time to do was talk to God from my heart as I drove to the appointment. My prayers poured out naturally, even though I didn’t use a single method to express them. Then, a few minutes before arriving at my appointment, I stopped talking, asked God to speak, and just listened. God’s love flowed into my heart, and God’s guidance flowed into my mind – right there in the car. The wonder of experiencing pure, unforced communication with God filled me with joy. So, the next morning, I let go of all my formulaic prayer and meditation methods and enjoyed communicating with God naturally. It was refreshing to realize I didn’t need to pray or meditate in specific ways for my communication to count with God. I discovered I could notice God’s presence with me more by just communicating naturally. God will meet us wherever we are when we communicate with him…God places no limitations on our conversations with him. So, we can pray in all sorts of ways. Prayer is simply talking with God, while meditation is listening to God. If we’re focusing our energy on communicating with God, that counts as valid prayer and meditation… Communicating with God is an opportunity, not an obligation.

Prayer:

The author of today’s prayer is unknown.

Dear Lord help me to remember that nothing is going to happen to me today that You and I together can’t handle. Amen.