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       #Post#: 835--------------------------------------------------
       Quiet time - Communion with the Lord
       By: Handmaiden50 Date: November 13, 2014, 9:58 am
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       As one who is coming from about 25 years of being a Protestant,
       I'm very used to a systematic theological approach to
       understanding God, His attributes, etc.  I guess all along I
       have had a great deal of "head knowledge" (in as much as the
       "created" can have of the Creator) which has outweighed having
       actual communion with the Lord.   I would pray as a Protestant
       but, now that I've been on my journey toward Orthodoxy, wonder
       to whom I was actually praying - either, A) A god of my own
       making or B) The true God who heard my prayers and who has been
       merciful to me all these years even though I was understanding
       and worshiping Him in error.
       My priest has suggested, in order for me to begin on the path of
       communion with God, that I need to take time daily and just sit
       in the silence before God and just "be" in His presence - to
       start with a few minutes.  As I sit in the quiet I will hear
       outside noises (cars driving by, a dog barking, etc.) or
       images/thoughts will come to my mind. Basically, from my
       understanding of what he said, I am to sit in the quiet (say
       starting with 5 minutes) and continue to do it for the same
       length of time until I come to the point where I am no longer
       effected by outside noise or images/thoughts in my mind (which
       may take many months to accomplish) - at which point I would
       lengthen my quiet time.  Father has not yet instructed me to
       pray the Jesus Prayer yet which, I thought, would be part of
       what I would be doing in my quiet time.  I guess in doing this
       it is a lesson in switching off seeking God solely from my
       understanding and switching to hearing Him speak to my heart.
       Not to offend anyone - but this scares me (though I have been
       facing my fear and have been having quiet time as my priest has
       suggested).
       My concern is that if I were ever to achieve the state that is
       the goal of this type of quiet time, how do I know that I am
       hearing from God?  How do I discern that in becoming quiet that
       I am not opening myself up to something of the evil one? As a
       Protestant the way I would "hear" from God would be in reading
       and studying Scripture and seeing what the Word said about a
       matter.
       To those of you who are Orthodox and have had success with a
       personal quiet time like this, I'd be interested in hearing your
       experience.  Thanks  :)
       #Post#: 836--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Quiet time - Communion with the Lord
       By: marc hanna Date: November 13, 2014, 10:27 am
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       This can be a very difficult task, especially from one raised in
       Western society.  Western society is very busy, long hours at
       work, driving hard to achieve one's goals, and so many
       distractions with gadgets, social media, and advertising.  All
       these things interfere with our spiritual growth and our
       communion with God.
       The first step in solitude is to first pray.  Pray that God
       remove the distractions from you and reveal Himself to you and
       give thanks for His sacrifice, salvation, love, and sustaining
       power.  God will guard you from evil, if you only trust in Him.
       The quiet solitude is something that must be practiced.  It
       doesn't come all at once.  After all, you've had 25 years of
       practice the old way :)
       Try to clear your mind, and if a thought enters your head, you
       can refocus by reminding yourself that nothing is so urgent
       right now that it can't wait until your period of quiet solitude
       is done - which is absolutely true.  You might try withdrawing
       to a quiet place, like a walk-in closet or a park.
       Try to relax. Often we are a lot more tense than we realize.
       Begin with intensionally relaxing your facial muscles, then your
       body and limbs.
       Be patient, and don't worry.  God loves you and seeks to unite
       you with Him.
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