spiritual direction and prayer

so i have started meeting with a mentor/spiritual director and needless to say i am really excited about it. i spend a lot of time helping be a part of the formation of others, so i figured i needed to find someone to do that for me. my first session was this week and amidst my fears and anxiety in starting some new ventures at church we began to talk about prayer. we asked the question – who is prayer for? us? God? both/and? my mentor directed me to matt 9 and jesus’ encounter with the disciples about the workers and the harvest. he pointed out something that i hadnt really thought of before, and he asked me what i thought the disciples reaction was to jesus request. jesus saw these people who needed help, and asked the disciples to pray for workers, knowing that in doing so – how could the disciples prayer for workers and not feel the inclination/spirit’s leading to go. jesus is brilliant. there is no way that these disciples could pray “God, raise up workers to furhtur your kingdom…etc” and not be so moved to go. so maybe an aspect of prayer is really for me? to re-center, re-focus myself to understanding who God is and his values, instead of focusing on my kingdom and my values…

thoughts? just something that i have been thinking on this week….

~ by jda on July 17, 2009.