Praying in Tandem and in Co-Operation with God's Will: Experiencing Prayers Answered

By Diana HC Tan

“You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly...” (James 4:3). Why are my prayers not answered? So how and what do we ask? The secret is learning to ask for a grace that is in tandem with God's will. The clearer you are about the grace (desire) you need from God, the more you find prayers answered. Let the author, a trained spiritual director in the Christian tradition, tell you how.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Diana HC Tan
• Release date: Feb 13, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463677643

Diana HC Tan

Diana HC Tan, avid reader and writer specializes in topics related to spiritual direction, personal growth, Ignatian spirituality, ageing, lifestyle, health and general wellness. She is a trained spiritual director in the Christian tradition and is interested in topics related to spirituality, psychotherapy, psychology, and integrated health in mind-body-spirit. She is currently in training to be a psychotherapist.

Book preview

Praying in tandem and in co-operation with God’s Will:

experiencing prayers answered

Diana HC Tan

Copyright 2020 by Diana HC Tan

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. Spiritual directors or prayer companions may consider gifting a copy of this to their directees as they learn to articulate their desires, and to ask God for graces that are in tandem with his will.

This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please consider purchasing and giving it to your friend. Otherwise, please kindly ask your friends to buy their own copy.

Thank you for respecting the copyrighted work of this author.

God bless.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Semantics

Alone Time with God

Preparing to pray

Distractions during prayer

Praying for yourself

Setting aside time to pray

Choosing a Scripture passage for prayer

Keeping a Prayer Journal

Spiritual Direction

What is spiritual direction

The practice of spiritual direction

Frequency of meetings

Ignatian Contemplation: Praying with the Imagination

How to Pray using Ignatian Contemplation

An Illustration of Prayer using Ignatian Contemplation

About Ignatian Repetition of Prayer

Journaling after prayer

Grace – The Desire of My Heart

Asking for what you want

Naming our emotions

Emotions and Attitudes

Praying in Tandem and in Co-operation with God's Will

Praying in Freedom

Praying with Scripture: Suggested Passages and Reflection Questions

Bibliography

About the Author

Foreword

I am a lay trained spiritual director and have been journeying with seekers for more than a decade. Before beginning the ministry of spiritual direction, I was a prayer guide who companioned Christian seekers to use Ignatian Contemplation (praying with the imagination) and Lectio Divina (Sacred Reading) as prayer tools to listen to God.

Ignatian contemplation engages our imagination to place oneself in a scene from Scripture and is one characteristic of Ignatian spirituality. Talking about Ignatian spirituality inevitably brings to mind the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola. One key task in the Spiritual Exercises, a manual of prayers and meditative materials, is to ask for a grace before beginning to meditate. We are to ask God our Lord for what I want and desire. (SE 48).

The asking of a grace (or simply put, a desire) sets the tone for an encounter with God. The graces suggested in the Spiritual Exercises are specific; for example, when meditating on the life of Jesus, you ask for a deeper knowledge of Jesus. However, in our ordinary day-to-day encounter with God, we simply ask for a grace that meets our desire of the day or the season of our life. Each pray-er, using the same Scripture passage, may have different graces that they desire from God. The grace sought with the same Scripture passage may also change over time and season.

There is no right or wrong grace, except that the clearer you are about the grace (desire) you want and need from God, the more you will experience your prayers answered.

The practice [of asking for a grace] reminds you of the importance of asking for things in the spiritual life and of realizing that whatever you receive is gift from God. - James Martin, S.J. (p.62).

In the ministry of spiritual direction, I have found how asking for the right grace enables a seeker to grow more in tune with God’s will. The more one prays in tandem with God’s will, the more the seeker will experience his prayer answered. The experience I refer to here is the cultivation of an awareness - a noticing that God hears our prayers and knows best what is