{"id":1429,"date":"2014-11-08T23:13:58","date_gmt":"2014-11-08T23:13:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=1429"},"modified":"2014-11-08T23:13:58","modified_gmt":"2014-11-08T23:13:58","slug":"a-praying-spirit-different-levels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/11\/a-praying-spirit-different-levels.html","title":{"rendered":"A Praying Spirit: Different Levels"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Maureen<\/a>If your prayer life has become a bit monotonous, or if you think you’re not making progress in your attempts at conversation with God, try varying your levels of prayer.<\/p>\n

What do I mean by levels?<\/p>\n

Think pace, height, and volume.<\/p>\n

First, try praying so quickly that you don’t enunciate clearly. This helps you focus not on words, but on your emotions that underpin them.<\/p>\n

Next, think of where God is for you at that particular moment. Is God above you, looking down? Try bringing Him more to your level. Is He somewhere deep inside of you, so deep you cannot hear Him? Try focusing on a part of you that you can see (your hands or your feet, perhaps), and bring God there.<\/p>\n

Finally, regulate your volume. That is, shout your praise, whisper your fears. Speak boldly of your intention, and quietly of your pain.<\/p>\n

Varying your levels of prayer can take you out of your comfort zone, but it is usually in that place that is most unfamiliar to us that we finally and fully hear what God is saying to us – as we pray.<\/p>\n

Joy and peace,<\/p>\n

Maureen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If your prayer life has become a bit monotonous, or if you think you’re not making progress in your attempts at conversation with God, try varying your levels of prayer. What do I mean by levels? Think pace, height, and volume. First, try praying so quickly that you don’t enunciate clearly. This helps you focus…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1272,3,360,43],"tags":[1338,96,223,1339],"class_list":["post-1429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-praying-spirit-prayer-2","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-determination","category-encouragement-in-life","tag-how-to-pray","tag-prayer","tag-praying","tag-using-different-levels-to-pray"],"yoast_head":"\nA Praying Spirit: Different Levels - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/11\/a-praying-spirit-different-levels.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Praying Spirit: Different Levels - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If your prayer life has become a bit monotonous, or if you think you’re not making progress in your attempts at conversation with God, try varying your levels of prayer. 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She expected to be writing scripts. God had other plans. A few years after her graduation, Maureen was diagnosed with a life-threatening case of organ-involved lupus. Her life turned upside down as she grappled with the effects of the illness and other health conditions that ensued. She was no stranger to serious health challenges; even as a child, Maureen had survived numerous bouts of pneumonia, flu, and other infections. But lupus made her take a fresh look at her life goals - and took herlifelong, strong Catholic Christian faith and writing in a direction she'd never imagined. Today, Maureen writes and speaks about walking with the Lord while living with chronic pain and illness. Her most recent book is \"Don't Panic!: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough (Franciscan Media). She is also the author of, \"Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain & Illness\" (Image Books\/Randomhouse), \"Beyond Pain: Job, Jesus, and Joy\" (Twenty-Third Publications), \"The First Year: Hypothyroidism, Second Edition\" (Perseus) and \"Taking Charge of Lupus: How to Manage the Disease and Make the Most of Your LIfe.\" She writes the syndicated column, \"Living Well,\" for Catholic News Service, and has also written for Saint Anthony Messenger Magazine, Journey for Women Magazine, The Upper Room Magazine, LupusNow, and Arthritis Today. Maureen's health continues to be a challenge, however she feels honored to be able to bring her perspective, from experience and knowledge, to others. \"Good Days...Bad Days with Maureen Pratt\" is a new way for Maureen to reach people who carry the burden of illness and pain in their lives, or who care for someone who does. Through the blog, she hopes to bring issues of health, wellness, and spirit into focus and, especially, inspire others that, no matter what health challenges, illness, or hardships they endure, each person can find a good way to realize the wonderful potential God has placed within each heart and soul.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.maureenpratt.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/author\/mpratt"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/548"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1429"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1430,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1429\/revisions\/1430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}