Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Pentecdost Sunday, 8 June 2014 "Prayer Tip"

Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Pentecdost Sunday, 8 June 2014 "Prayer Tip"
Prayer Tip:
The arrival of real summer, with all the sunshine, good old Midwest thunderstorms, and gardens in full bloom always makes me a little bit restless. I find myself wanting to have a summer adventure, do something different, explore something new. I need to be careful. In the past, this impulse has led to things like agreeing to go camping for a week, letting my children adopt pet snakes, and extremely dubious choices in paint colors. Maybe this would be a good summer for an adventure of a different kind.
This coming week in the GPS, we will explore the different gifts each of us bring to the work being God’s people in the world, and how that variety of gifts, services, and activities all serve the same God and are given to each of us for the common good (1 Corinthians 12:1-11).
As it is true when recognizing and using our gifts, it may also be that each of us finds a different "path" that works in harmony with our spiritual and practical gifts and becomes our best way to come into the presence of God in prayer.
In her book, Paths to Prayer: Finding Your Own Way to the Presence of God*, author Patricia Brown explores different ways to pray – prayer practices, they can be called, that are matched to other God-given gifts and individual hearts. She identifies four "prayer styles" and offers multiple prayer practices and tools that can be explored within each style. At the beginning of the book, she offers a self-assessment to help you determine your "prayer style," but exploring any and all of the styles and prayer tools offered could be the guide to a great summer adventure in prayer!
A summer adventure of exploring different ways to pray sounds great, but let’s be sure while we are adventuring that we remember our true focus, as Ms. Brown points out, "…immersion in prayer – individual personal encounter with the living God – that transforms our life and the lives of those around us, and changes the world."
*Paths to Prayer: Finding Your Own Way to the Presence of God by Patricia D Brown is available in the Well Bookstore in Building B at the Leawood Campus.(Jennifer Creagar, Coordinating Assistant for Prayer and Congregational Care)
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