If you’re like me, you’ve spent some time trying to pray.

I say “trying” carefully, because I know that the Bible tells us that it is important to pray, and I truly want to. At the same time, I have wrestled with the fact that I’m very good at asking God for things that I want, but not necessarily good at the “two-way conversation” that prayer sometimes sounds like in the Bible, or a good book by a famous pastor (trust me, I’ve read a few!).

Knowing that I wanted to be better at listening to the voice of God, I went on a search a couple of years ago to find something that would help me. Here’s what I knew:

1. The Bible is God’s Word: He uses it to speak directly to me, even if I can’t hear His voice in my head say “Kodiak, you should buy the blue car - it’s better than the red one.” I didn’t want to listen to a podcaster or pastor - I wanted to listen to or read God’s Word.

2. I needed something that would help me on a regular basis - daily, hopefully!

3. I am very distractible. Reading my Bible works, but flipping back and forth between apps, Bible pages, etc. isn’t something I’m good at.

To save you time, I’ll just say that I looked through quite a few podcasts, apps and devotional booklets before I settled on something that has become a part of my daily routine: Encounter.

I met Encounter as a daily podcast where a passage of Scripture is presented as well as questions that you can ask yourself as you talk with God about the passage. Since then, they’ve released an app for Apple and Google which is just as helpful, and includes a journal portion you can use to record your thoughts.

Here’s what the founder of Encounter has to say:

At Encounter, we explore several different types of meditation within the history of orthodox Christian practices. They are an approach to a spiritual life based on traditions within the church dating back to 400 A.D. and drawn from 10th century B.C. holy scripture.

Theologically, Encounter is aligned with both the Nicene and Apostle’s Creed from the early 4th-century church. Both are used as a foundational framework and hermeneutic lens to scripture when writing and producing the contemplative meditations on Encounter. In reciting and affirming these covenants, we join Christians across the world and throughout the ages in affirming our faith in the one God who created us, redeemed us, and sanctifies us by his grace through faith in Christ.

Encounter was launched in July of 2018 with a mission to offer a safe space to encounter the transcendent God in the midst of the noise of our daily routines. I have a calling to see a world rejoicing in hope, resisting fear, patient in tribulation, and constant in prayer and meditation in the divine presence of God (Romans 12:12). 

I’ll shoot straight: it took me a few weeks to get used to the way the podcast is set up. Yes, there is some light music in the background (which helps me ignore the rest of our house in the morning), and for those of us who aren’t used to responsive prayers, it felt strange to speak things out loud at times. Still, I know many faithful Jesus followers who enjoy praying out loud and responsively, and I have found it to be meaningful as I pray.

It’s been a real step-up for me, prayer-wise, and so I’m sharing it with you. It has helped me to move past my prayer requests into a place of listening to God, and I think that’s something we should all be striving for!

I’ve linked the Encounter website below, as well as the Apple and Google app links. You can always search for it in your favourite podcast app as well!

As we continue to journey through time apart from each other, one of our goals is to continue to bring our Beacon family some resources and plans that can help redeem the time in front of us as we wait for the world return towards normal. That’s why Luke “Kodiak” LaRocque is sharing a book, podcast, movie or other cultural product every month or so that could be of interest to you and helpful to your family!