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 19, 2026 as a short teaching at our online weekly prayer sit.
Much like when light shines on the branches and leaves of trees in the forest, the life of prayer is also dappled. Naturally, there are spots, patches, and blotches that cause patterns of light and dark to form.
There are dry spots in prayer that feel like drought. There are also periods of inundation that feel like the deluge of a storm. There are patches that feel more communal and patches that feel personal. There are blotches of prayer that feel messy, unregulated, inconsistent, and out of our control. There are other blotches that feel aligned, delightful, joyful, and wildly abundant, like a painter’s palette full of colors!
We may long for smooth lines, consistent tones, and perfect coloring in our life of prayer. We may think that the Holy One only shows up when things seem to be going well in life and in prayer. It is tempting to let the perfect become the enemy of good. Honestly, however, I am more concerned about the life of prayer if it seems too good to be true. If nothing ever changes or goes wonky in prayer, it might be a sign that prayer is then not real, or alive. The spots, patches, and blotches of dappled prayer reveal the messy-yet-beautiful complexity of authentic and transformative prayer.
In the dappled life of prayer, may our spots be bold, our patches abundant, and our blotches wonderfully creative!
