With The Rev. Dr. Ellen C. Neufeld

St. Augustine wrote, “Our hearts are restless, O God, and they cannot rest until they rest in You.” Our hearts are hungry for intimacy with the God Who created us out of love so that He can love us and we can love Him in return. Our restless desires, which we so often try to satisfy with other things, indicate the truth and depth of this need. How can we experience and live in the Love of God? Prayer is the quality of our relationship with God and the means by which His Grace establishes and deepens that relationship with Him. Prayer itself is the means by which we experience God's love working in us. We yearn for this, but we also find it difficult to enter into the restful, healing place of prayer. In our four sessions, we will encounter and explore “The Place of the Heart” which is where we meet the Lord Who loves us so much. We will learn and pray together so that God's loving Grace can work in our hearts more freely and fully.

Session 1, February 27: In the Chamber of the Heart:
We will consider the meaning of the term, “Heart” from the perspective of Holy Scripture and the Holy Tradition of Christian prayer. How do we find our own hearts, and how do we encounter God in the depths of our being?  The “Heart” is the gateway between our souls and spirits.

Session 2, March 27: God's work of Grace in each of His Persons: Father, Son and Spirit
God, our Father, has created us to know Him and His Love. Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of the Father has redeemed us in order to bring us into the Father's house. The Holy Spirit is the active Agent Who heals us and fills us with God's Love. We will explore how the Persons of the Trinity partner with us in bringing us into a mature relationship with God.

Session 3, April 24:  Healing our wounded Hearts
If we desire so much to grow in our relationship with God, then why does it so often seem so difficult to do this? We will examine some of the wounds and blocks which cause this difficulty, and we will pray into God's healing Grace.

Session 4, May 22: Partnering with the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit wants to partner with us in His enterprise of growing us into the people He made us to be: mature human beings, fully alive and growing in His love. He provides the grace and guidance which we respond to and follow. He takes all the initiative, but we actively partner with Him. We will explore and pray into how we may enter into this partnership.