Places of Prayer

We will give ourselves continually to prayer…

Acts 6:4 [KJV]

A few blogs back, I asked if you had a special time, place, or discipline that worked well for you in your prayer experience that you would be willing to share.  I have had my first response from Faye, a wonderful artist and friend from Beulah UMC:

“As to the where of prayer, I find I have different places for the type of prayer. My upstairs recliner is for quiet times. My kitchen table is for Bible study and

 Sunday School preparations. My Bible Study classroom is for

praying with and for my little group of ladies.”

Ah, how wonderful that upstairs recliner sounds!  I would love to have a cushy chair in a quiet corner where little four-footed furry creatures would not come seeking a lap and a back rub – totally disturbing my thought process.  I am definitely acquainted with the kitchen table spot:  throughout my childhood my mother could always be found studying and praying there.

My prayer places are as noisy and/or cluttered as my life is.  My office is a glorious eruption of paper and stacks of “stuff” everywhere.  I spend a great deal of time on my computer here, researching and writing.  There are little perches on either side of my chair for the aforementioned furry beings.  They nap, I click and clack away, and I pray.

My favorite time/place for prayer, however, is when I walk in the mornings.  There is something about being outdoors in the fresh air that immediately lifts my thoughts to God.  I love being able to look up into blue sky and imagine that my x-ray vision can penetrate to the very throne of the Almighty.  There is no doubt that my best prayer times happen while walking.  I feel free to walk and talk without the trappings of formalism.  When I am not talking to the sky, I talk to the Person on my left – the One who I cannot see, but feel His presence none-the-less. 

It is my hope for you today that you have a special place of communication with heaven.  Take a look around.  You just might find a cozy nook, a comfortable chair, or the wide-open heavens! 

Prayer is the soul's sincere desire,

Unuttered or expressed,

The motion of a hidden fire

That trembles in the breast.

Prayer is the burden of a sigh,

The falling of a tear,

The upward glancing of an eye,

When none but God is near.

~James Montgomery