REC - Loving God: A Sacrifice of Praise | Greer Gordon

Greer Gordon's presentation at the 2016 Religious Education Congress focused on building up the prayer life of the laity. In doing so, she invited us to consider crucial questions in how we encounter God through prayerful listening. A few questions to center our connecting with God: How do we go deeper as laity into the heart of prayer? How do we enter into a deeper love-relationship with God? What does it mean to be a member of the faithful?

In her address, she treated these questions in a myriad of ways. Some prominent quotes: Prayer is first and foremost about a relationship - allowing God to engage us and us engage God. The point of prayer is to arrive before God without our need to control it. We should practice our faith and prayer life not out of an act of fear, but a need to keep holy our deep listening.There exists a disconnect among laity in what it means to engage God, give God love and praise. It is in God that we are moved, motivated, altered. We love God because God loved us first. When you know you are so loved (really loved!) it makes a difference.How do we feel and understand God's "you know I really love you?" What are the implications if we really know God's love us? God loves me because God wants me to do things God needs done. Can we bask in the fact that God loves us and we are here? How can we move beyond "coming to God with a list" and remember to thank and give praise to God? How do we make our relationship with God valued and valuable? Are we putting in the energy as believers into our relationship with God?

Prayer is ultimately about two things: relationship & deep listening. How can we develop a consistent posture of listening to God?