#98: Spiritual Health: Praying to connect with the heart of Christ with Kimberly Coyle

What does it look like to connect with the heart of Christ through prayer? How do we do that in real life? How do we talk with God instead of at God?

To kick off this year, we’re in a new series called Spiritual Health. In it we’ll walk through five spiritual disciplines:

Studying the Bible with writer Amber Palmer was Episode #97
Praying to connect with the heart of Christ with Kimberly Coyle – that’s today
Celebrating Sabbath with author Mark Buchanan
Imitating Christ as we suffer with author KJ Ramsey
And hearing from God with author Jen Barnett

In this conversation, Kimberly shares with us:

A great prayer when you only have 5 minutes
What’s going on when we wonder if we’re not hearing from God because we’re not doing it “right”
The role of emotions in our prayer life,
And how she’s retraining her brain.

Key Quotes

“We don’t need to feel shame that we’ve prayed ‘wrong’ or that we’re not spending enough time in prayer.” – Writer Kimberly Coyle
“Prayer is a much broader, more beautiful, more flowing experience than sitting down and having the formula or set time of day.” – Writer Kimberly Coyle
“Prayer is returning to center.” – Writer Kimberly Coyle
“Prayers become a habit of thought.” – Writer Kimberly Coyle
“Sometimes we can miss what the answered prayer really is because it doesn’t look like we expect it.” – Writer Kimberly Coyle
“God is not afraid at all of our deep emotion.” – Writer Kimberly Coyle
“Where are my spiritual eyes going?” – Writer Kimberly Coyle
“Shake shame off.” – Writer Kimberly Coyle
“There is no right or wrong, where prayer is concerned.” – Writer Kimberly Coyle

Mentioned in the Podcast

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Previous Episodes Mentioned

Episode #97: Studying the Bible with writer Amber Palmer

About Kimberly Coyle

Kimberly is a freelance writer with an MFA in Creative Non-Fiction, and the author of Borrowed Words: A Collection of Seasonal Prayers. She writes for women who want to live a more attentive and meaningful life through the lens of faith, story, and art.

When not writing, she teaches college writing at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey.