'Teach Us to Pray' Series
From interpretermagazine.org and the United Methodist News Service
By Emily Snell
A resurgence of ancient prayer practices has United Methodists and others across the United States experiencing traditional spiritual exercises in new ways.
These practices include acts such as contemplative prayer through silence, creativity or nature and use of spiritual tools like prayer beads and icons. 
The Rev. Daniel Wolpert, pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Crookston, Minn., is the author of Creating a Life with God and Leading a Life with God, two books published by The Upper Room that discuss forms of contemplative prayer and how they can change individuals and churches.
Contemplative practices allow people to hear God, he said, by minimizing the noise and busyness often present in American culture.
"They give us an opportunity to experience this Being that is very close to us, but that is, at the same time, separate from the individual workings of our mind," Wolpert says.
Read the full Interpreter article HERE.