Prayer – a shelter for your soul

Hennie Symington

Even before I speak,

you already know what I will say. Psalm 139:4

As a deer longs for a stream of cool water,

so I long for you, O God. Psalm 41:1

Starving souls

Our souls are hungry and yearn for spiritual nurturing, not all kinds of quick fixes. To nurture the soul you need to expose it to all things spiritual and cultivate the ability to transcend the mundane into the sacred within your everyday existence. Prayer is one way of creating a shelter in your inner being where you can meet God wherever you are.

Prayer is two-way traffic

Is it communication in the ordinary sense of the word where information is exchanged between two parties? But if I believe that God is omniscient and knows all about my coming and my going out, what information can I give him which He is not already aware of?

And if I read in Romans that God knows what I want to tell him long before I’ve uttered the words, what is the sense of praying? Do my thoughts really matter to God? Does He listen to me or is prayer just a way of getting in touch with my deepest emotions and needs.

Prayer is a divine intimacy

Perhaps we should stop seeing prayer as a list of needs and wants but as a moment where God shares his presence with us. Think of it as a “show and tell” moment where the dad comes to see how his child is doing and the child, in turn can tell the father about everything that is happening in his life. And even if the dad already knows exactly what the child wants to show him, he picks him up on his lap with immense love and patience while looking and listening to what the child wants to share with him.

It’s moments like these that create an intimacy between God and his children – enjoyable not only for the child but for God also. Think of it as an expression of a relation that is as deep as that between a parent and a child. Even more so. It is a connection between God and man, heaven and earth.

Prayer for today:

Lord, I cherish my body but am a stranger to my soul. Help me to connect with the most important part of my being mindful of the spiritual realm as I go about my daily business.