Actively Dwelling

Throughout this journey I’ve known the importance of prayer. I’ve preached prayer, taught prayer, taken part in prayer corporately and privately. But I’m not sure if I ever discovered the importance of dwelling in prayer. Sometimes we get so caught up in the act of prayer and doing prayer, we forget it’s through prayer we step into our abiding in Him. But to abide in Him, we need to figure out how to dwell in prayer and in turn dwell in Him.

Standing Vulnerable Before Him

Once again Henri Nouwen sheds some light on this as he writes:

Patience—an active dwelling in the present moment—is the mother of expectation. A way to rephrase “waiting patiently in expectation” is “standing vulnerable in the presence of our loving God.” This is the core of all prayer.

Discernment: Page 152

Active waiting is being open to the promise yet to be fulfilled. Patient waiting is staying fully in the present moment. Expectant waiting is trusting that this long process will bear fruit. As a contemporary representative, Simone Weil, writes: “Waiting patiently in expectation is the foundation of the spiritual life.”

Stepping Off The Ferris Wheel

The only way to move deeper into this place of prayer, is by stepping off the Ferris Wheel of busyness. Yes, I called it that for a reason. Life pours in and we get so caught up in going around in circles we forget to slowdown. After all, the view from the top of the Ferris Wheel is spectacular. But, if “waiting patiently in expectation is the foundation of the spiritual life,” it means we must get off the Ferris Wheel and find a quiet place to dwell.

Of course stopping can be a challenge because the expectation of the world is to constantly be busy. Waiting patiently is what some refer to as wasting time with God. In order to move forward and grow deeper in our spiritual life, we must determine it’s important to waste time with Him.

I guess we don’t like to do this, because, as Nouwen says, it means “standing vulnerable in the presence of our loving God.” Just how vulnerable do we really want to be?

Just a guy on a journey,

Rus