God speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer. ~ Mother TeresaScripture is full of prayer experiences where people spoke to God and God responded. The only experience I know greater than the invitation to speak to the creator of the heavens and earth is to hear the creator speak to me.
My passion for talking to others about prayer began when God took away six years of doubts and bitterness through my own prayer experience and the simple words “Dear God, if you are real, please take away my doubts.”
God has given me a personality that likes to ask questions. As God planted the desire to understand prayer in my heart, it was natural for me to ask questions: Why pray? Who’s doing the talking? What happens when we pray?
I don’t claim to have the complete answer to these questions but I believe that we all learn and grow closer to the unity God desires as we share what we are seeing.
The three questions – why, who and what – are divided into three autonomous speaking topics. Each question can be anything from a 15-20 minute devotional to a one-hour or more interactive session(s). All three questions can also be covered in a 45-60 minute lecture style session (with little or no small group interaction).
The “Why” and the “What” can also be broken down to four 15-20 segments offered at consecutive weekly/monthly/quarterly gatherings.
The content for “The Why” segment was originally written for four one-hour sessions. ARCH is an acrostic to aid in understanding how a conversation with God is very much like a conversation with another person. I led this study using the ARCH acrostic with a small group of women on four consecutive Sunday mornings. That format included homework for the week and putting what we learned into practice during the session.
“The Who” segment takes a practical look at the interaction between people and Holy Spirit during the prayer time.
The final question, “What Can We Expect?” brings The Why and The Who together for a powerful prayer experience. A larger portion of this section is spent in small group prayer. I lead the groups step by step through the ARCH using scripture as the basis for much of the prayer time. Expectations often change when we acknowledge who God is in very personal and meaningful ways before jumping into our prayer requests.
Feel free to contact me with any questions or ideas you have for altering this outline to fit your needs.
Additional Retreat/Seminar Material
A Gentle Whisper – Hearing God in His Word, In Solitude, and In Community is designed for three one hour sessions plus two one-hour opportunities to experience what you’ve learned. It’s well suited for the contemplative. However, some who are not solitude types have discovered this retreat to be a new and exciting experience in their relationship with God.
