How do you pray?

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If you are like me, you love to commune with God in nature. I can't actually remember hearing anyone say, "I really can't connect with God in nature." I remember the first time I heard a church-person affirm that connection with God in nature. I was at Camp Allen, the summer camp I attended as a kid, and one of the priests said that I and my heart leapt with joy to hear that from someone with authority. The Celtic Christian tradition is full of this sort of awareness and teaching. There are little prayers offered that include the majesty and intricacy of God's good creation. Some of the monks used to set out on the sea, allowing it to carry them on to new unknown places to proclaim the gospel. 

A friend was talking about the practice of praying morning, noon, and night recently, and referred to that prayer practice as having a Trinitarian Shape. I tend to have a regular morning prayer time, and night prayers under the stars are often my deepest, soulful conversations with God. That set me to thinking about those prayer times. 

I'm seeking to use the traditional understanding of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit here, and make some connections with those prayer times. When I stand under the stars, like Abraham did and perhaps as Moses did when called aside by the ignited-yet-not-consumed bush, I tend to be imagining God the Father, or God the Creator of all things. God, who set the bounds of Cosmos and spun the galaxies into existence as God's own vocalization; a material expression of God's voice. I offer back my God-given voice, lamenting loss, searching for direction, offering thanksgiving for life. 

In the morning, and this is my most consistent prayer time, I sit down with the Son, our Brother Jesus


Christ, God Incarnate, who not only was there bringing order to the Creation, but was born into Creation of the flesh of Blessed Mary. He who showed us a Way that was about love: healing, feeding, lifting up, including the outcast. Brother Christ who redeemed us, and is our Salvation, with whom we die and are raised to new life in Baptism. This is my morning prayer orientation, as the sun rises, we also are Resurrected to a new day, and anew start, every Sunrise is a miraculous occasion. 

In seminary, we used to have quiet days once a semester. After Morning Prayer, we were sent out to pray in our own way, then we would close the day back in the chapel in prayer. One morning chapel leader told us the tradition of the, "noonday demon." According to tradition, this demon comes when the sun is high, and distracts us with boredom, lethargy, or entertainment. It whispers that our work is not worthwhile and leads us away whatever we use to anesthetize to the pains of life. What a wonderful time to call upon the Holy Spirit. At noon, we can ask for inspiration, guidance, empowerment, and all the fruits of the Spirit. At noon, we can check in with God the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost; the Advocate, Counselor, Fire, Wind, Water, the one who moves us to action through the church. 

Now, this is not prescriptive, but descriptive of my experience of prayer through the day. I offer it as something my friend shared and inspired me to think about the Holy Trinity through the day: Night, Morning, and Noonday. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We worship God in Trinity of Persons; a community, and we celebrate the unity of One God. If nothing else, I hope this reflection might open the door for you to consider when and how you pray to God, and perhaps arrive with more intention as well as openess to how God shows up for you in life, in nature, and through your community. 



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