Scripture

Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:1-4 

Shape: Hexagon 

We often struggle with how to pray and the disciples were no different. When they witnessed how Jesus prayed, they begged him, "Lord! Teach us to pray like you pray!" The invitaiton to pray as Jesus prays is open to all of us. With something specific weighing on your heart, you can take it through the 6 components of the Lord's Prayer. Or, you can simply pray through your day, thinking through each of the aspects of this prayer and letting it guide you to the places the Holy Spirit wants to take you. 

Story

Prayer is hard. Communicating with God either takes on a poetic reverence that we hear from the pulpit and assume that's what prayer needs to be, or it's absent all together. It's comforting to know that the original disciples also struggled in this way. I've learned to trust the images and topics that come to mind during my prayer time, rather than push them aside and focus only on elevating God and begging him to do my bidding. Holding those images and distractions up to the Lord, and reflecting on the facets of the Hexagon has transformed my prayer time. Rather than ending in frustrated begging for a sign, I now recognize the images and words that occur in prayer as places to respond in faith. Often, a person's name will come to mind. Focusing on them has led to reach out, build bridges in relationships, share presence, etc. It has gotten so much more comfortable waiting on the Lord on some topics since I've witnessed how faithful he is in the here and now.