Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Quote: The Praying Life

I'm doing quite a bit of reading lately--such good stuff. It makes me want to share some of the rich tidbits I encounter along the way. Here's one from Paul E. Miller's The Praying Life.

Just before this excerpt, Miller writes about how busy Jesus' life was, how his family even attempted "to stage an intervention because he is so busy." (Mark 3:20-21)
But he loves people and has the power to help, so he has one interruption after another. If Jesus lived today, his cell phone would be ringing constantly. The quest for a contemplative life can actually be self-absorbed. If we love people and have the power to help, then we are going to be busy. Learning to pray doesn't offer us a less busy life; it offers us a less busy heart. In the midst of outer busyness we can develop an inner quiet. Because we are less hectic on the inside, we have a greater capacity to love... and thus to be busy, which in turn drives us even more into a life of prayer.

2 comments:

Trinity and the brood said...

AMEN!! This is SO freeing! I have this sense that I should be doing less and yet I cannot reconcile that with my desire to reach out to people, to love people, to be available, to throw open the doors of my life....and I so very much resonate with this thought: it's a less busy HEART that matters. We will be busy with loving people if we are pursuing the heart of God, and then that in turn drives us even more into the life of prayer. Thank you my friend for your pursuit of truth, and for sharing it here!

Sandi said...

this is my favorite book on prayer. Read it over a year ago and have it one my overflow list to read again this year.

It is SO true. My life is busy right now and though I would prefer it different I can't change that. I can be quiet and at rest in the inside though no matter what is going on outside.
Sometimes I do this well and others not so much :o)