SOLITUDE AND PRAYER

Here's one more piece of writing from a sophomore student at WA...

The world seems to move at a pace that is almost impossible to keep up with at times. Juggling work, school, family and friends can become too much and push you over the edge. So how do we keep going? Well, some of us don’t. In a way I don’t know how we could survive in a world like ours without solitude and prayer.

When thinking of solitude you probably imagine yourself alone in a secluded quiet area away from people, relaxing, thinking and perhaps writing. Sounds wonderful compared to a six hour day of school.

A couple months ago I was really stressed out. I was snapping at my family for no reason, giving attitude, complaining, and just always being in a rotten mood. I knew I had to find something to help me and make me stop acting the way I was acting. And naturally I just knew I had to get away and think about what was bothering me so much. So one night it was about nine o’clock, my family had gone to sleep already and I was lying in my bed and I just had so many thoughts running through my head at once; I needed some air. I jumped out of my bed and walked right out my back door. I started walking to the fields behind my house. I laid down in the grass, stared at the stars. Waiting for something miracle- like to happen, like God’s face appearing in the sky and telling me everything was going to be alright and have a life changing experience. No-God didn’t appear in the sky but I did have a life changing experience. So I laid there for ten minutes alone in solitude. Nothing happened; I was still angry, confused and lost. I thought about what I was angry about, hurt about, nervous about and I felt alone with these problems. I then thought “Geez, I haven’t prayed or talked to God in months.” So I started praying, I must have been in that field for an hour and a half. But when I left I walked away knowing the answer to all my problems -give God the steering wheel.

If you are going through anything hard in life like a break-up, a divorce, a death or money problems and you don’t know what to do; just talk to God, tell Him “Lord I cant do this on my own”, “I’m lost, please help me, guide me through this, take control because I cant do this on my own.” Just that simple let Him take total charge and you’ll be able to get through the toughest situations in life. Listen to Him. Solitude is nice but, it is nothing without prayer. I could have laid there in that field for an hour and a half in solitude but I would have walked away the same way I entered; lost and miserable. Prayer is the key to solitude. You can get a lot of answers through solitude and prayer. So I challenge you to open yourself up to God, give God a chance to connect and speak to you without any distractions and actually have you be able to hear Him. You may not be able to hear Him like you would hear a friend talking out loud to you but you’ll know that he is there with you just like He is all the time.

If everyone practiced this discipline of solitude and prayer on a regular basis I think we would have happier surroundings and some of us would be in a better state of mind. Remember Solitude is nothing without prayer.