Levels of Participation

Levels of Participation

Level 1: This is the easiest level.  You can work at your own pace with the 7-WEEK HANDOUT.  If you include the book PRAY. ACT. PRAY AGAIN, you may want to read some of the additional daily prayers. This Level is a personal experience—especially if this is the first time you have tried praying intentionally.  Responses are not expected but are always welcomed.  Prayer should never be a burden.  I have enjoyed praying and listening for God’s responses most of my life.

Level 2: In this level, I encourage you to read daily the scriptures from our book, PRAY. ACT. PRAY AGAIN, and/or the daily insights I will send beginning on Ash Wednesday for the next forty days.  Sending feedback from what you are learning and experiencing is not necessary, but welcomed.  I want to stress that working at your level of comfort is important. Think of this as the time you spend with God, a very dear friend, who knows you and loves you and looks forward to your visits. 

Level 3: This advanced level involves focusing on reading the scripture to help discern what kind of actions God might be suggesting for you. (If you want to work at this level, decide how frequently you want to communicate with me, and we can work on how we will communicate.)

Level 4:  This Level is new this year.  For quite some time, I have been keeping a daily prayer journal.  I created my own process based on a model I found in the late 1980s.  I have tweaked that form; made it my own; and suggest, if you participate at this level, that you work on establishing your personal style of recording prayers. 

The acronym I use is the following.

              First I ask, “What is my PART today?”

So before I even get out of bed, I try to remember to ask myself four questions:

              What can I PRAISE about God today?

              What do I need to ADMIT needs work in me this day?

              What do I want to REQUEST God to help me with today?

              For what do I want to give THANKS?

Here’s an example of how I might answer these questions:

              I PRAISE God for the beauty of creation I see out my window everyday.

              I ADMITTED my need to stop procrastinating and rewrite this study.

              I REQUESTED inspiration from the Holy Spirit.

              I THANKED God for the joy I feel when I think of my six grandchildren.