Spiritual Survival Guide
6: Keeping It Going: Moving Beyond Survival Mode
If you’re having problems relating to a God you can’t see face to face, then think about whatever it is you’d like to talk about and imagine say- ing it to Jesus (who is, after all, the human face of God). And then don’t just imagine saying it—go ahead and actually say it. Say it out loud if that helps. Say it silently in your mind if that’s easier. For most of us, praying can feel weird at first, especially if we didn’t pray as children. It can seem as if we’re talking into the empty air. Sometimes we can feel foolish. But the overwhelming majority of us have found something beyond the foolishness. We find ourselves feeling strangely free. We feel lifelong burdens lifting. We feel hope begin to stir. We feel insight and direction begin to come our way. We feel in touch with something and someone bigger and more mysterious than ourselves. We’re well aware that this brief description of prayer just raises more questions. That’s because, although prayer itself can be the most natural and simple thing, a lifetime of prayer isn’t. It’s complicated, because we’re complicated creatures. To help you think about prayer, and then to help you through your own prayer life, we’d like to share some things we’ve learned, some prayers we treasure, and some prayer patterns that you might want to try out. Here are the top ten things that we’ve learned about prayer that you might want to consider. 1. Be yourself. First of all, don’t pretend to be someone you’re not. Don’t fake it. Don’t mimic somebody else’s spiritual language and style. Don’t be intimidated by the “prayer warriors” around you. Don’t worry about “doing it right.” In fact, we heard someone say one time that “if you’re praying, you’re already doing it right.” We can get ourselves all tied into knots by over-thinking and over-analyzing. That’s not what God wants. Just relax and talk the way that you talk and say what’s on your heart and mind. You appreciate honest, authentic, straight-up talk, don’t you? God does too.
Think About It. Talk About It.
1. Lots of inmates report that the most surprising thing that happened to them in prison is that they actually changed as men. Would you be surprised if that happened to you, or has God already started that change in you? 2. Do you currently have any spiritual friends inside prison? Outside prison? Would you be surprised by (and would you welcome) more spiritual friends if God led them your way in the next six months?
Prayer Life: Top Ten Things We’ve Learned
Prayer is the life-blood of our relationship with God. You simply can’t overestimate the importance of it for spiritual survival—inside or outside these walls. In fact, some of us found ourselves beginning to pray like crazy only when we got to county lock-up—bargaining with God, hop- ing to avoid prison time. Others of us never bothered with all that. We thought we were tough and smart, and that prayer was for the weak and foolish. Some of us were in-between the two groups. We weren’t against prayer, but we never really understood what it was all about, either. So what is prayer, anyway? Maybe at its most basic prayer is talking and listening to God. Not about God. To God. Person to person. Like he was your best and only true friend. Like he was right in the cell with you. Like the creator of the universe had nothing more important to do than to spend personal time with you—to listen to you and commu- nicate with you. Prayer is all about you having a relationship with God and God having a relationship with you.
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