“Prayerful Noticing” by Alison Roberts: 7 Ways to Pray blog series

18 Nov 2022

I’ve got such a treat for you with Alison’s wonderful ponderings about prayer and life and shifting an outlook through a simple practice. I’ve written about the way of praying that is the examen, but Alison’s pared-down approach is one that I could incorporate into my life. Her vivid descriptions will capture your imagination; enjoy!

Sitting down to pray has always been a struggle for me, the world full of so many distractions, but what I longed for was a deepening faith, to be able to be still with God and increase my ability to love one another, (especially the ones I don’t even like!). I knew it was only prayer that could help me, so I spent many years searching out a way for me to pray that might open and grow my heart.

For me prayer has become my opportunity to actively participate in the universe by communicating with God. I notice something and as a continual action pass it over to God, whom I trust will bear witness and hold whatever it is I’ve past on in prayer. Perhaps I’ve noticed that the sky looks unbelievably beautiful this morning and how it gives the perfect backdrop for the starlings with their synchronised swooping and diving of the autumnal murmuration. Or I notice a lady in a green scarf who limps in the supermarket queue and looks like she’s having a difficult day, though I truly have no idea. Or maybe I’m just wowed by the welcome I receive when I went attend to a new church. Small things, things that might seem inconsequential in the scale of the whole of the universe, a beautiful smile, a voice choked with tears, a friend’s snazzy new jumper, but everything, everything matters.

I’ve noticed that the more I take notice of the world around me, the more aware I am of what I am blind to. My biases and prejudices; my lack of knowledge and understanding of so much that limits my world view. And whilst this way of praying has illuminated my own inability to grasp and understand so much, paradoxically I feel myself actively being drawn deeper in my relationship to God and the universe. For me, praying this way feels like it’s embedded in my being and part of who I am; no longer is it just a twice daily activity.

It all started with the Examen; I say Examen, but with a simplistic adaption. At the time my life was already complicated, and I wanted – needed – to be able to commit to a method of pray that I could stick with. I discovered that early morning worked for me to sit alone with a lit candle, in a space where I could reflect on my previous day. I used three headings to guide my self-reflection:

Consolation; what was wonderful,
Desolation, what wasn’t wonderful,
What else I noticed.

For each heading I would write without hesitation the mundane, the wow, the bitter.

At the time life was particularly bitter and I really needed to hold onto God as a source of strength. I’d write in a journal, splurging out across the pages what I found to be mundane, wow or the disappointments of my previous day. I noticed how easily I found it to repeatedly rant on about the same old ‘stuff.’ And I began to see things that I take for granted: a loving supportive family, the therapeutic nature of sharing laughter, the astonishing emerald colour of the grass this morning scattered with blobs of shimmering diamond drops of dew. Lately I often find myself being irreverent to the questions; my pencil easily and eagerly covers several pages in a very short time.

Praying this way in all humility feels like I’m emptying myself out before God. The action of prayer seems to unearth hints and whispers of my true self. The bad crazy bits and so much else that I’d much rather edit out all get included in my prayers. And I’ve noticed that the more I pray this way, my self-acceptance of both my limitations and my gifts grows. There may yet be simmerings of peace.

As a way of praying, I’ve found it’s highly addictive!

Alison Roberts is a wife, mum, grandmother, priest, spiritual director, dog owner and general lover of wild colour, people and places, who especially loves swimming in the sea in North Devon.