“Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.” – Ecclesiastes 5:1-2

When it comes to prayer, a stumbling block for many people is feeling like they don’t know how to pray and what they often mean by that is that they don’t know what to say. The good news is that “good” prayer is far less about what we say to God then it is about being present and attentive to God – making space in our life and our being for God to speak to us. After all, we need to hear from God far more than God needs to hear from us right? I have found that a good rule of thumb, a good guideline for prayer, is that it should be about 20% talking to God, and 80% listening to God.

This might sound simple, but it isn’t always easy. Some days it is harder than others for me to still my body and quiet my mind and listen to God, but it is always worth it. Those are the days when I need to be present with God the most.