The Prayer Thread is a collection of teachings and practical prompts to help as we learn to pray in community. This text was originally delivered on June 12, 2026 as a short teaching at our online weekly prayer sit.
It is easy to complicate prayer. Especially in communal, liturgical, and ritual prayer, the temptation to add more words, sounds, and gestures can make prayer feel more like a heavy package than a treasured gift. Over time, the packaging of prayer can feel more like heavy, burdensome baggage and less like light, life-giving sustenance. This is the shadow of carrying prayer our time in a tradition – it can become too heavy to pass on easily from one generation to the next.
At the same time, especially for a solitary person in prayer, or a person new to prayer, it can be difficult to know where to begin in prayer. Lack of precedence or experience can easily overwhelm a person in prayer. This is the gift of carrying prayer over time in a tradition – it can shed some light on where and how to find the treasures of prayer. In this way, the tradition can learn from the novice or newbie and keep prayer simple.
Find the words that still mean something. Say them often. Recognize that words are sometimes inadequate in the face of life. Find space in prayer for silence, stillness, and wonder. Return to those spaces often. Go all in on prayer. Keep it real and close to real life. Find the songs, do the gestures that thread the needle between natural and supernatural, ordinary and sacred. Remember that deep interconnection often.
A good life of prayer doesn’t necessarily mean “more and more.” Good prayer can be simple, but it should happen often!
