Week Four: Chapter Four, Prayer in Solitude

Discussion Questions:

1. What part of this chapter truly stood out for you, caught your attention, raised new questions for you?

2. Experiment with two forms of prayer Gatta describes, that you haven’t experienced before or haven’t tried for a while. What is your experience? Did you feel the presence of God? Did you have trouble concentrating? Are these methods you’d like to try again?

3. What are the best conditions for prayer for you? Do you find it more successful during a particular part of the day? Do you prefer to have a special space set up for prayer? If so, what about those physical surroundings help draw you into an experience of prayer? If you haven’t set up a particular space, try setting one up and see whether prayer feels different there.

4. What do you believe is accomplished in prayer? Do you believe it changes your heart, changes God’s mind, or helps something else to happen? Have you experienced any miracles in prayer?

5. The chapter describes prayer as a gift from God – a gift of God’s presence with us. Have you had experiences of prayer that seem to be gifts – images or insights or new ideas that come to you from elsewhere?