Prayer Is Awareness

“Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!” (Genesis 28:16 NLT)

Knowing and awareness are not the same.

How often do you think about the air that surrounds you? You know that it is there, but you are not consciously aware of it most of the time. Do you pay attention to your breathing? Whether you are awake or asleep, your lungs inhale and exhale continuously. An average person takes over 20,000 breaths a day. It happens in the background while you go about your business. You know that respiration is essential to life, but it happens unconsciously. When are you most likely to notice air and your need for it? If there is smoke, or you are drowning, or if your airway is obstructed--you suddenly become hypervigilant. You do not become aware of air until you are desperate. 

God’s presence is around you and within you. Perhaps you have always known this, but you have not been consciously aware. You go about your business, heedless of God’s constancy. Until something goes wrong. Then, in your desperation, you gasp for God. 

Prayer is paying attention to God’s presence. This goes beyond an intellectual knowing of religious dogma or doctrine. It is more than words, rituals, and tradition. It is focused awareness of all the ways God is working within you and around you all the time. 

Prayer is awareness of God 

Inhalation of the Spirit 

Exhalation of trust

Conscious absorption in gratitude  

Saturation in Grace.