Learning to Listen

With the events oft his past week, prayer had and has been very central on my mind. Before even beginning this chapter I was overwhelmed with the need and the want to pray for the community I am in which had experienced major tragedies last week. The girl I mentor witnessed a very grewsome motorcycle accident while riding her bike down a street in Huntington Beach last Tuesday, and then early Wednesday morning a Cal. State Long Beach employee died by a tragic accident on campus. Please include these events into your prayers, all of the people who were involved in both events need God's love and comfort.

That being said, three statements from Foster this past week I believe best describe what I vividly began to learn about prayer.

"...prayer involved a learning process. I was set free to question, to experiment, even to fail, for I knew I was learning." (36) No one graduates from Jesus school people!

"Soren Kierkegaard once observed, 'A man prayer, and at first he thought that prayer was talking. But he became more and more quiet until in the end he realized that prayer is listening.'" (39)

"We do not pray for people as "things, but as "persons" whom we love." (40)

Knowing and having faith that prayer will change the world, that our God is a personal God that listens to me and love me so much that my concerns, worries, and desires (however meaningless they may actually be sometimes) are heard and if prayed in accordance to His will, I am working with God to determine the future. I was praying for the people that I had never met that had witnessed these horrific deaths last week as brothers and sisters out of love and compassion. Genuine love for others and compassion. Prayer became a learning experience for me to learn how to take myself less seriously and express my love for these people hurting, scared, and angry. And the more I prayed the more I realized, as Soren Kierkegaard stated, my original concept of prayer was that I was talking at God. Telling Him my desires and needs as if He didn't know them. But listening...hearing, knowing and obeying God's will as a part of prayer is still blowing my mind. What a fun learning experience! As much as I fight failure and losing control of what I believe I know to be right, what a joy to be free to learn and experience God by shutting myself up!

By the way, I want you all to know how much I value your blog posts. I gain so much new perspective at Foster's words by simply reading how each one of us interprets his words. Thank you for sharing your time and thoughts! Keep them coming!