Experiment + Prayer = Exprayeriment
Cultivating a daily prayer practice is the most powerful and important discipline you could ever commit to.
Rewarding? Absolutely.
Regimented? Completely. And with that comes the potential for limitation, boredom and spiritual myopia. Not to mention the overwhelm associated with choosing the “right” practice, the “right” words, the “right” way to pray.
We have learned through profound trial and error and endless inquiry how remarkably easy it can be to end up feeling “stuck,” attached to a routine that, first discovered, felt like the only spiritual practice we would ever need. For the rest of our lives. Eureka! Bliss! We’ve struck spiritual GOLD!!
Two months in, and we’re wondering where the hell God is—can’t feel Him, can’t hear Him, pretty much convinced He has left the building. At that point, it can be remarkably easy to give up.
We’ve tried that.
(It’s not the answer.)
Because, in fact, when you reach a place of disconnection, when you feel like you and God aren’t even in the same zip code, let alone the same building, it doesn’t mean you’ve failed or that your spiritual practice is inherently flawed.
It’s a call to stretch yourself and risk a new way of communicating with and meeting God.
Welcome to EHQ—Exprayeriment Headquarters—the place where Sacred meets Playful, Creative, Imaginative, Daring, Challenging, Magical and, thankfully, Practical.
EHQ is a private platform for kindred spirits to come together, participate in devotional practices that range from centuries-old tradition to we-just-made-this-up-yesterday, and share their experiences with one another in a respectful and supportive space.
Each week we will post a new Exprayeriment and you’ll receive an invitation via e-mail with all the details. Whether you choose to play with the practice every day, once or twice during the week, or just spend a little time thinking about it, we welcome your participation and hope you’ll share your insights, questions, comments and ideas so everyone can benefit.
We’ll keep all the Exprayeriments together in a secret page on Faith Squared, categorized and tagged, so that you can access practices from previous weeks any time you’re feeling prayerfully adventurous. You will find that some practices resonate with you more than others, and that what resonates changes over time. We hope you will do what feels right for you; and that you will try some of the practices that, at first blush, may not seem right for you. From our own Exprayeriment history, we can tell you that these often unlock the most unexpected gifts.
February 2013 Update: Our first 30 Exprayeriments are now available on the main blog page (click here for the Exprayeriment archives). NEW Exprayeriments are available only to newsletter subscribers and will be sent out monthly. Click here to sign up! (If you were a subscriber on the site for the weekly Exprayeriments, you are signed up for our newsletter.)