Introversion and Prayer

This evening I was listening to an extroverted friend of mine talk about her prayer life, and it made me wonder how introverts' and extroverts' prayer lives might differ.

I read Brother Lawrence's book The Practice of the Presence of God this summer because I have been feeling a desire to know God more intimately and more regularly in my life though I am not sure exactly what this would look or feel like. Lawrence talks of it as an unending conversation, but he also speaks of it as knowing and acknowledging God's presence with you in every moment. And I guess I was realizing tonight that it is the latter I desire because I do not always feel able to keep up that much "conversation." When I relate my relationship with God to my relationship with people, it becomes more clear that I desire a more tangible sense of His nearness and presence with me in the silences. With my closest friends, I love to "just be" with them. I can be wrapped up in reading a book or studying for a test, but I still feel their presence with me. And of course it's a lot easier to be aware of them when there is a physical body there, heh.

It seems I usually only know God's presence when I am speaking to Him. And I want to be more aware of His presence when I am doing other things, to realize that He is experiencing it all with me. I suppose, as Brother Lawrence would advise, I should start practicing.