My Prayer Story.

[Ian The Poet]

I will start with my first prayer story which God gave me some eight or nine years ago. The piece of Scripture is the following:

1 Kings 19:11-13 (New International Version)
11 The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by."
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

The story starts in a cave, I am lying down and asleep as I wake up I notice that I am in a cave. There are two exits one leads into a desert, and I definitely do not want to go that way. So I look out the other exit and there is a great turmoil out there, of mountains being torn apart by a wind, the earth is splitting and fires rage.
I say out loud, 'I'm not venturing that way.'
A gentle whispering voice replies, 'Do not be afraid, for I am with you.'
I immediately recognise it as God speaking, so I step outside. Nothing touches me, as rocks, trees, pieces of mountain and fire surround me.
I ask aloud, 'Why am I here?'
The gentle voice replies, 'During your life you will encounter many troubles, some where your world is falling apart; not literally like what you see now, but it will feel like that. So I have given you that cave to come to at any time.
As you know one exit leads into a desert, there you can go like my Son Jesus did and face temptations. Do not trust to yourself when you go out there, take my son Jesus with you every time.
'The second exit will lead you to your prayers, where you will encounter different aspects of Scripture or life, which will include nice things or troubled times. Sometimes my Son Jesus will be involved or one of the Saints or people that you will meet in your life. Some scenes will be from Scripture where you will be able to participate or spectate. I will be always there to answer your questions.'
I was amazed and astounded at that reassurance and I began to feel at peace. I watched the surroundings for a while and then turned around and entered the cave.

Ever since that first story I went back again and again. I would love my prayer stories to continue. I only have that one and fragments of others, which I would love to create again. I probably need a lot of prayer for myself and I know God is abundantly rich in His giving, however I cannot go forward until I really know God is with. I would love a sign from God to continue forward with a sincere heart and a positiveness. Perhaps a Spiritual Director is out of reach for me now, but I just feel that there is someone out there that could somehow encourage. I am sure my imaginative powers are ready for God's use and I am willing to go forward with God.

I wanted to share that because it shows what a good imagination I have got. I know the non believers out there will ridicule it, however I'm not worried about that. Whatever you believe enjoy or hate it. Ian

[Gardenhead]

I do not know - and a google search didn't tell me - what a 'prayer story' is; I assume it's some kind of religious experience that occurs while praying? Certainly religious experiences exist, and ridiculing the claimant doesn't do anyone any good. Have you ever had any other kind of religious experience?

[k2hsharpe]

" I probably need a lot of prayer for myself and I know God is abundantly rich in His giving, however I cannot go forward until I really know God is with. I would love a sign from God to continue forward with a sincere heart and a positiveness"

i have a deep and long abiding faith in god, just no faith in the bible as literal truth what so ever. And i always come back to surrender, though surrender to what i don't really know (god's will? god's grace? love that must constitute the heart of this universe? - in the end i don't think it really matters because for me the handmaiden of surrender is always faith)

[k2hsharpe]

PS
are you not blessed to have even had this one experience you write about?
: -)

[Ian The Poet]

Someone asked me once what is a prayer story. If you read the above piece the story is based on the Scripture, I may be unique at doing it, I am not sure. When I shared it with my Spiritual Director at the time, they reckoned it must be a gift that God gave me and to use it wisely, which I did for sometime. I did not become bored of it I seemed to dry up and left me wondering if I would pick it up again. Where the term prayer story came from I'm not sure, perhaps God gave me the title. I hope I'm not the only one gifted with this technique, I am sure there are others out there. Of course I did say I was unorthodox which could be an answer.

[Gardenhead]

So you mean it's not so much a religious experience as a piece of religious writing?

[Ian The Poet]

This is another of my prayer stories based on the Christmas Scriptures in the New Testament.


I am in the cave again, I wake up to find some food and drink waiting for me, so I thank God and tuck into it. When I finish I get up and walk towards the entrance, not the one to the desert, but the other one. Near the entrance was a box type package, somehow I felt I had to pick it up, so I did. As I stepped out of the cave I soon found that I had entered another similar one, although this one was slightly smaller and there were animals in this around the edge. For in the centre there was a manger, behind it sat a man, and a very young woman. Standing each side of the manger was two brightly garbed men . However it was the manger that they were looking at, so I walked over put down the package next to two others and looked in. There wrapped in swaddling clothes was a baby, I knew at once that it was Jesus, he smiled up at me and gurgled. I held my little finger for him to grasp, which he did and held it tight as though he would never let go. I cooed and he gurgled, it was a strange experience looking down upon my saviour as a baby, and it was such a strong picture that still remained with when I re-entered my own cave.