I have a prayer stand where I am learning to hunt. It’s elevated and beyond the senses of those who may stroll by on bike, car, or foot. I visit this location regularly as a farmer visits the soil. There is a pattern to my labors though. I just don’t close my eyes and draw an imaginary line from my concept of God to my concept of needs, and then  shoot out words rapidly like an automated assembly line in hope they will correctly assemble for me the desires of my imagination.

No. I cannot hunt with my eyes wide shut, but nor can I see with my eyes wide open. There is an emptying and a filling that must occur. An apophatic prayer, the emptying of that which entangles and inhibits me as an intercessor, but also a kataphatic prayer, seeing through the lens of the Great Victory of God.

So, I close one eye and focus the other. Steadying my breathing. Concentrating on my environment. Waiting patiently to see that which is imagined become manifest in objective reality. Growing in courage to pull the trigger when I see it break through… BAM!

Veni Creator Spiritus, Come, Creator Spirit for with eyes wide open I am blinded by the glory of God and with eyes wide shut I miss the cries of the needy.

But don’t be mistaken. My prayer stand isn’t so much about hunting as it is about daily orienting myself to the hunt. A daily abiding in holy attentiveness to Him who prays for His Father’s will to be done, on earth as it is in heaven.