Transformation Blog

Prayer Finding the Heart’s True Home by Richard Foster Part 2— Moving Upward Chapter 13— Meditative Prayer “Meditation is the tongue of the soul and language of our spirit.” Jeremy Taylor OPENING PRAYER 1. Chewing Our Spiritual Cud          The cow chews grass over and over as it digests. It turns into rich, nourishing milk.          The Word turns into nourishment for our souls as we digest it thoroughly.          The Jogging Monk—Head to Heart 2.   The Wonderful Word of Life that lead us to the Word of Life.          I am the Bread of Life.          Internalize and personalize the passage          Set aside arrogance, our own understanding          Ponder the Word in our hearts like Mary did 3.   Kierkegaard: the “contemporaneity” of Scripture          The past does not merely parallel the present, but intersects it in God’s eternal                               timeframe. 4. Sanctifying the Imagination          God created ou

Prayer Finding the Heart’s True Home by Richard Foster Part 2— Moving Upward Chapter 12— Prayer of the Heart “Heart speaks to heart.”   John Henry Newman OPENING PRAYER 1.   The Abba Prayer          Warming the heart          God longs to commune with us.          “It is the heart that prays, it is to the voice of the heart that God listens, and it is the                   heart that answers.”   Jean-Nicholas Grou 2.   Abba—Our Father          Jesus was the first one in Jewish history to use “Father” to describe God          Further, He taught us to use “Father” to address God          And He used the familiar, intimate equivalent of “Daddy” 3.   Prayer of the lips, mind, heart          The Holy Spirit is the initiator of the prayer of the heart          He also prays it, and sustains it—groanings too deep for words          Romans 8:17-26 4.   How the Holy Spirit prays the Prayer of the Heart          Rhema               

Prayer Finding the Heart’s True Home by Richard Foster Part 2— Moving Upward Chapter 11— Unceasing Prayer ““When the Spirit has come to reside in someone, that person cannot stop praying; for the Spirit prays without ceasing in him.   No matter if he is asleep or awake, prayer is going on in his heart all the time.   He may be eating or drinking, he may be resting or working—the incense of prayer will ascend spontaneously from his heart. The slightest stirring of his heart is like a voice which sings in silence and in secret to the Invisible.”   Isaac the Syrian OPENING PRAYER 1.   A wonderful way of living always in God’s presence.          It’s for everybody.          St. John of the Ladder: “Let the memory of Jesus combine with your breath.”          Juliana of Norwich: “Prayer unites the soul to God.”          Kallistos:   “Unceasing prayer consists in an unceasing invocation of the name of                        God.” 2.   Is it possible? Do