In his iconic poem “How to Be a Poet,” Wendell Berry sums up all of creation in one lovely sentence:
There are no unsacred places; there are only sacred places and desecrated places.”
He cuts directly to the chase of our persistently false categories and my own personal tendency to desecrate the sacred by forgetting the presence of God within the mundane.
In the Venn diagram of your own average day, you might be surprised at what lands in which circle. For example, making bread, sweeping up the goldfish crackers my grandchildren scattered, mailing a card to a friend, and hanging socks on the clothesline are all common enough. However, denied the option of “unsacred” and finding not even a hint of “desecration” in any of them, I can experience them with joy as sacred acts.
And what about prayer? Bible study and teaching? The activities I reflexively pencil into the “sacred” space? Is there ever a time when I’ve emptied them out of their truest meaning by a warped concept of God, gutted them by guilt, or reduced them to a checkmark on my daily do-list?
This year, I’ve been taking a hard look at my prayer life, pulling up weeds of desecrated practices and leaning into historic prayers, silence, and the borrowed and reliable words from scripture.
Is there ever a time when I’ve emptied prayer of its truest meaning by a warped concept of God, gutted it by guilt, or reduced it to a checkmark on my daily do-list?
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Ann Voskamp’s Sacred Prayer has come along at just the right time to guide my understanding of the word sacred. What is it that our hearts long for when we come to prayer? Her 90-day guided journal offers prompts for putting pen to paper and searching questions that move prayer away from a do-list for God and toward intimacy with a loving and involved Creator. Deep roots in scripture invite readers to pursue biblical responses to questions like, “What do I want today?”
If your goal is spiritual disciplines planted firmly in “sacred” space, consider Voskamp’s acronym for defining sacred prayer:
Stillness—We learn to know God as we wait for him in stillness.
Attentiveness—In prayer, we find grace for sifting the voice of God out of the noise.
Cruciformity—Our whole lives, surrendered to God, become cross-shaped, prayerful, sacred.
Revelation—As we meet with God in the quiet, he reveals himself through his Word.
Examine—Our thoughts return to God as we release fear and review the day in his presence.
Doxology—Thanking God becomes a sacred habit and everything becomes a gift.
“Real prayer isn’t about changing God’s mind, but about finding God’s heart, and letting His heart change our minds!”
Holding You in the Light,
“Real prayer isn’t about changing God’s mind, but about finding God’s heart, and letting His heart change our minds!” ~Ann Voskamp in #SacredPrayer via @ThomasNelson
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Many thanks to Thomas Nelson Publishers and NetGalley for providing a copy of this book to facilitate my review, which is, of course, offered freely and with honesty.
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I too got this book and am loving it. For me it came at just the right time as I am needing to learn to be still. I actually posted a sticky on my computer with the acronym SACRED, as a gentle reminder throughout the day. This is my first time journaling and it has been interesting because it doesn’t come natural to me, but it has also been very enlightening to see words to paper. I am very excited to see where this journey will take me.
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Angie, this sounds like the beginning of a wonderful new and life-giving habit. I am so glad you wrote to share your thoughts.
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I’m moving this book to the top of the TBP list. To focus on sacred acts and prayer during the Thanksgiving, Advent, and New Year seasons seems like a most worthy pursuit! Thank you, Michele, for continually introducing us to such beneficial resources.
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And you are already such a committed journal keeper, I imagine all kinds of goodness happening!
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Michele, I find myself more and more letting go of labels and categories so you caught my eye right away. Ann Voskamp’s book looks very compelling as I find my prayer life tends to be a praying without ceasing thing, like breathing, yet I know it will be wise to carve out more focused time in connecting with the Lord. It’s been a long time since I’ve used a journaling format.
Thank you for the nudge in the direction I know I should be going. He is always inviting us to something deeper and more substantial. Your biblical wisdom often speaks into His invitation.
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I’m glad to hear that your imagination was stirred by the review. It’s always a surprise to me when God sends along the right book at the right time.
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Reducing sacred duties as a checkmark on my to-do list? Guilty!
One of the ways I’m being more intentional about the sacred privilege of praying is to write out a prayer based on a couple verses of scripture. In other words, I’m praying God’s own words back to Him. It’s been so soul-satisfying for me.
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Well, I appreciate your transparency, and you know that I’m raising my hand and standing right beside you in admitting to that particular tendency.
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