The Prayer Dominator

The Nunnery on the Island of Iona, Scotland

As a child, I received the blessing of a prayer habit.  It’s a gift I open often.   

I am an evangelical, church of Christ, daughter of the King, who is also an oblate* with the Catholic Sisters of Sacred Heart Monastery. 

Why is a girl like me hanging out at a monastery? 

The answer is quite simple. 

I’m listening. 

Up until a few years ago, I did not fully pray.  I talked, thanked, and on occasion begged.  In my prayer life, I was the person most people hate. I never shut up so someone else could speak.  I was The Prayer Dominator.  

While that might sound like a super hero of sorts, it is instead a serious spiritual flaw.  

For many years I didn’t even know I should listen.  I was ignorantly fulfilled with my chatty prayers. 

As a life-long believer in Jehovah God, I was spiritually illiterate conversing with the Creator I claim devotion. 

I was missing out on the divine when I chatted with my God, said, “Amen” and then quickly moved on with my day.

I have a beloved friend who wins the "Most Difficult to Communicate With" award.  All of our circle of friends know this.  If it were not so sad,  it would be almost comical.  When we converse, he never looks me in the eyes, he is always thinking about what he is going to say next, and even worse, he is prone to walk off in the middle of the so called conversation. 

Watching the back of his head as he saunters off, I feel frustration, irritation, and worst of all, I feel disrespected. 

A few years ago, I realized I had spent my entire life disrespecting God in the same way.  

We will dig deeper into prayer in the next few posts.  I hope you'll come back and join me.  

* An oblate is a person who joins hands with a particular monastery to become a faithful prayer warrior with them and a lifelong student of prayer.  Quite simply, an oblate offers themselves as a prayer sacrifice.