GOD-centric Interior Spiritual Disciplines:

To live in a good and fair God of love

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Ch. 4 Exercise: Prayers & Poetry

"The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays." ~ Søren Kierkegaard (Theistic Existentialist)

  Praying to a Force of Love just feels contrived to me. A Force of Love does not need to be adored. Petitioning God seems awfully self-centered. I don't believe that God actively intervenes in the course of things because to so believe would start an avalanche of questions about evil that would challenge God's goodness. So why include a lengthy chapter of prayers of adoration, petition, intercession, and thanksgiving? For the GOD-centric, prayer is an interior spiritual discipline that centers our quality of being in God's love, goodness, and fairness. GOD-centric prayers of adoration praise the wonder and beauty of creation. GOD-centric prayers of petition empower us to act as God's agents of love, goodness, and fairness in the world. GOD-centric prayers of intercession put into words our hopes for benefits to come to others. GOD-centric prayers of thanksgiving give voice to our gratitude for life and for the opportunity to live in and out God's love. In this chapter, the four basic forms of prayer within the Roman Catholic tradition are used to organize GOD-centric prayers from Agnostic, Anglican, Bahá’í, Bohemian, Brahmo Samaj, Deist, Freethinker, Hindu, Humanist, Jewish, Muslim, Pantheist, Pandeist, Protestant, Quaker, Roman Catholic, Sikh, Stoic, and Unitarian traditions. Each prayer was selected to center us in God's love, goodness, and fairness:

Prayers of Adoration

Prayers of Petition

Prayers of Intercession

Prayers of Thanksgiving

TOULOUSE-LAUTREC Woman in Prayer