Question for Christian Aspies...

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What is your prayer life like? Mine's pretty much non-existent. My two biggest problems are 1) finding a time to pray and 2) thinking of something to say when I do pray. I usually wait until I feel like I have something to say in prayer, but those times are few and far between or else I pray because I'm expected to pray (like in a church service) but I can't think of anything to pray about so I just end up sitting there with a bowed head and a blank mind. People always suggest first thing in the morning and before you go to bed for prayer times, but those times just don't work for me since when I first wake up I'm not awake and at night at bedtime I'm tired. Both times are times I'm on autopilot and would not be a good time to try and think up things to say in a prayer.

So, anyway, I was wondering how other Christian Aspies manage your prayer lives or if you're like me and you don't have one. If you do have a prayer life, when do you pray? What do you say? Do you have a particular formula you follow, or do you just say whatever comes into your head? Or how does prayer work for you?

I know we're all different, but I figure that something that works for a fellow Aspie would be more likely to work for me than something that works for an NT (believe me, I've tried asking them and nothing they have suggested has been effective).

I always try to find a time for prayer, I veiw prayer as finding guidance taking to the time to talk with God.

My biggest problem though is finding the time for prayer I am very busy most ot the time.

I try to pray befor I go to bed and when I wake up in the morning.

I do pray befor I eat I also Fast once ever two weeks or so for about three days.

Use a prayer book.

I don't handle extempore prayer very well either, but I can make a written prayer my own - especially all the prayers in the Scriptures (eg Psalms).

I started with an Anglican prayerbook. It was basically several psalms, a reading or two from the Scriptures, a few short prayers, and the Lord's prayer. You'd be surprised how much Scriptural material is contained in some of the traditional prayer books.

Praying the psalms, rather than reading or studying them, is a great way to go.

There are various non-denominational prayer books around, as well as the official prayer books of a number of denominations. You don't have to belong to the particular denomination - if you find their material helpful, then use it.

Of course, you may find yourself adapting or expanding someone else's prayer to match your concerns - it may become a jumping-off point for your own words, but it doesn't have to go that way.

Though I am not Catholic I do love the Hail Mary prayer.

John Wesley had written a lot of books on prayer as a methodist it is very important part of my faith.

When i was religious, i didn't have any trouble coming up with something to say during prayer. Indeed, mormons are taught to pray always in their hearts.

But also in their closets. Which is to say cloisters. Which is to say that prayer is a personal experience and not something done to prove how religious you are to others. So, in private.

Back when i thought i had a heavenly father, i had a rich internal dialog with this imaginary friend. Any given prayer could have been prefaced with "So, in summation:".

It need not be eloquent or lyrical in form. You are talking to someone who has known you for longer than you have known yourself, right? He gets it.

So i would suggest that if you do not feel moved to communicate, you should perhaps examine your spiritual life and see if you can find out what is lacking.

When I was a schoolboy we were forced to sing hymns and say the lord's prayer aloud in the compulsory morning assembly. Those of us caught not saying it aloud were beaten with a cane in the headmaster's office. The lord's prayer became engraved in my memory along with contempt for Christianity and its hypocrisy and barbarity.

Ouch. I'm sorry that happened to you. Christianity should never be forced on a person like that...or in any other way, like through being overly pushy when talking about faith. It just drives people away and gives Christians a bad name.

it often is though,

making any apology sound hollow when all one has to do to see it happen again is wait.

Yeah, I know. Whether or not it sounded hollow, it was sincere. That is one of my pet peeves about the majority of Christians. That they can't be respectful of other people's existing beliefs when they're telling them about their own. It is also why I always try to respect other people's beliefs and only talk about my own when asked and never so much that the person regrets asking me.

I pray in little bits throughout the day. I think it's good to keep an "open channel" to God.

By praying in little bits throughout the day, I can fulfill both of these:

(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

...and...


(Ecclesiastes 5:2)

The two most important things to make sure of while praying are that you're being both honest and respectful. The amount of words doesn't matter, except in that, as Jesus said, "...use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking." (Matt 6:7)

I have believed that there is a God for...I don't know how long. Mainly because the idea that this world just "happened" to come into existence has never made a bit of sense to me. But I have never really understood who that God is, or been able to really feel connected to or able to talk to God. I mean, how do you talk to someone who never talks back? And if you can't communicate, how can you get close to them? I sometimes wonder if two things in my childhood affected this. First, my dad...wasn't the best. He basically ignored me unless something went wrong with his computer, and then he'd blame me. People always say that they picture God like their earthly father. The other thing was that when I was going through the "imaginary friend" stage, I never imagined them beyond a name and maybe what they looked like...though most of them were just names. I never thought about personality or about how they would interact with me. They were just...there. Didn't speak, didn't do anything, really, and I never talked to or did anything with them, either. I wonder if that is somehow connected to this issue.

Jesus said "Lo,I am with you always,even unto the ends of the Earth..."
Just talk to him. accept His presence and tell Him how you feel. Know that He is there, and listening.
Ever hear of a small book called 'The Practice of the Presence of God'?

Hope you had a great Easter!

Sylkat

Remember hyperlexian's post about such derogatory comments as those last few words? Especially since it has nothing really to do with the OP's request? And it can't be justified as "humor" or "parody"...

Your advice "just talk to him" isn't exactly helpful. How can I talk to someone when I don't have anything to say to them? And no, I haven't heard of that book.

Dear estrellaSMC, I just meant to talk to Him like a friend who is in the room with you, get used to Him being with you, just say what you feel, share your thoughts. I can't remember if it is in the Bible, but Jesus was referred to as the Ever-present Friend.
The book is worth Googling, and I believe that you can read it online. It is about the presence of God and being aware of His presence. I believe thatBrother Lawrence talked to him constantly.

Dear TallyMan perhaps your well-deserved contempt is for the hypocrisy and barbarity and it's perpetrators, rather than for the faith or the Savior whose name they hide behind to justify their cruelty. I wish you had not endured that abuse, which sounds like power-tripping bullying to me!

Sylkat.

I do apologize to Tallyman for the rolling eyes emotiocon but I would like to say this not all athiests or religious people are bad but I am not blind about the history of my faith at least I know about my religion and study it but I am no fundie in fact I get along well with the non religious on WP as much as I do the religious of any faith.