When we spend time in silence contemplating God’s unconditional love for us, He pours His Spirit into us. It’s a beautiful thing.

James 1:17 says “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” 

Contemplative prayer gives our Heavenly Father an opportunity to pour His miraculous gifts into us. God is the source of everything good that we could ever possibly want in our lives including joy, love, healing, power, peace and so much more.

The problem with contemplative prayer is not with God: It’s with us. 

The more time we allow Him to pour divine love into us, the more we discover all the the clogged places in us, which prevent His Love from flowing freely through us into the world. Resentments, fears, limiting beliefs and unhealed emotional wounds are a few examples of the guck we unconsciously hold onto, which block us from experiencing healing and miracles.

Often, when we enter into contemplative prayer and start to notice our own negativity instead of the mystical revelations from God we’d hoped for, we decide we’re not good at prayer and run for the hills.  Though that is understandable because it’s scary to realize how far we are from perfect unity with God …

I’m here to tell you: Don’t quit.

If you continue to retreat into the silence of contemplation of God’s infinite goodness, He can liberate you from everything holding you back from fully experiencing His love and pouring it into the world, which so desperately needs it. 

Thomas Merton said “We are able to decide whether we ourselves, and that portion of the world which is ours, shall become aware of His presence, consecrated by it, and transfigured by it’s light.”

The question is: will you persevere in prayer through the obstacles or not? 

I encourage you to educate yourself about the power of faith and prioritize taking time to meditate on God’s infinite love for you. Invite Christ’s love, mercy, forgiveness and healing power into the darker parts of yourself, and never give up until you’re free of them and experiencing the fullness of life in Christ.

Unity with God is a lifelong process, but perseverence in prayer pays off in the short run too.  Even just one encounter with God’s love for you will change your life in the best possible way.

Prayer

God, please inspire anyone reading this to step away from the frenetic pace of modern life to spend some time in silence focusing on Your goodness and love. Infuse them with the grace of motivation to persevere in prayer, even when it requires them to confront parts of themselves they’d rather not see. Fill them with Your Spirit, and give them a life changing encounter with Your Love, along with the grace to persevere through all inner healing and trials they encounter until they rest secure in perfect unity with You. Amen.

Action step 

Set aside some time each day (even just 15 minutes in the morning before the household wakes up) to allow God to pour the richess of His love into You. Try saying an Our Father or a simple invocation for God to fill You with the Holy Spirit, then rest in His love for you. Just keep returning your thoughts to God and patiently work through any distractions until you learn to “be still and know that I am God.” Another option is to read a scripture verse and ask God to fill you with the Spirit to understand it.