“Learning to pray is a skill.“ This was one of the first themes I was to pray with as I was being instructed in lectio divina. The theme was accompanied by a grace to seek, and the grace for this theme was “to be a better listener in prayer.” We were taught to beg for a specific grace whenever we pray, and then to pay attention to see how that grace is being answered as we pray with the Scriptures. Foundational to any relationship with God is prayer, as the means of listening for that still small Voice to which we so long to hear and respond.
I was eager to begin this new chapter in relationship with God, so received several Scripture verses from my director, with the instruction to spend an hour with each passage. Then I was to share what I had experienced at our meeting each day of the 5 day directed retreat. One problem persistently arose however; when I pray, I usually close my eyes, and when I close my eyes, within 5 minutes I’m asleep! This has been a pattern for me as long as I can remember, and needless to say was proving to be a challenge to my prayer times. How to stay awake and truly enter in to the conversation with the Lord?
One strategy that seemed to work was to sketch what I was experiencing in my prayer time. I’ve come to think of that as a spiritual sketchercises, especially as I did a lot of that when going through the 36 weeks of the Annotated 19 Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. I didn’t always fall asleep :), by often enough to make the sketching seem productive and helpful for prayer. As I sketched or doodled what was coming to mind, it would often find it’s own life and draw me more deeply into communion with the Lord. I usually followed this with a colloquy, or conversation with one of several Persons of the Trinity, or with Mary, or one of the Saints. I would write to them, and then pause and write down what I felt Their response to me might me, often surprising me with an insight or words that were a blessing to me.
This process has been such a blessing to my growth in prayer, it was suggested that it might help others to share some of the entries from my journals as a sample. Always we recognize that any gifts given to us by the Good God are never just for ourselves alone, but always meant to be freely given. As I’ve come to recognize the gift this has been for me, it’s a delight to share them with you as we seek together to build and strengthen the Kingdom of God in our midst.
Spiritual Sun Pennies 