Phenomenology of Prayer #1

"Prayer as Kenosis"

“To encounter Him we must empty ourself… self-emptying, in other words, a form of receptivity.” (67)

 Often in my prayers, I devote the majority, if not the entirety, of my focus on my own perceived needs. I struggle to "empty myself" to "encounter Him." Recently, I have realized that the most effective way for me to abandon my mental self-absorption is to distance myself physically from my concerns or my environment. As I have discussed in several of my previous posts, I find I am most receptive when I am in nature. When I enter nature, I pursue this shedding of self and receptiveness to God; however, I inevitably stray back to my own thoughts. In this struggle, I constantly lose to my human tendencies; I must rely on God to open me to His experience.

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