Distraction is one of the great enemies of the spiritual life. Life is so full and the pace so unrelenting that we can easily lose sight of our first Love. Thankfully our heavenly Father keeps calling us back home to a relationship of abiding love. But how do we rest in his love with all the churning distractions and lists of things that need to be done?  

 

The Prayer of Recollection offers an intentional process of becoming still in God’s presence. It enables us to collect all the pieces of our lives (distractions) and offer them back to God as we come to rest in his love. When practiced over time, the Prayer of Recollection can help us notice our unhealthy attachments to the things that keep us from God’s love. And it shows us how to return, again and again, and rest in his love. You will need paper and pen for this exercise.

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The Practice:

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Begin by settling into a comfortable seated position. Take several deep breaths as you inhabit your body and feel the weight of it being held by the furniture or floor upon which you sit.

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1. Take a moment to be quiet. Imagine God looking upon you with a long, loving gaze. He’s the one who made you; destined you to be born; and has pursued you in love your entire life. And he is so encouraged by your desire to sit in his presence; to come home to him.

2. Pray a simple prayer asking the Holy Spirit to guide your time and allow you to rest in his presence.

3. Spend ten minutes resting in and paying loving attention to God. Whenever a thought or distraction arises, notice it without judgment, and jot it down, using a simple word or two to describe the distraction.

4. At the end of the ten minutes, review your list of the things that came up for you. What do you notice? Which ones seem most significant?

5. Spend time wondering with the Lord what that distraction reveals to you about you. Is there something that God is inviting you to attend to? What might it be? Jot down your thoughts and musings.

6. Take time now to process what you have discerned with God and offer these distractions back to God.