What Is Prayer?
We had a fantastic discussion about baptism a week or two ago, one from which I am still learning.
I’d like in this post to invite another conversation, this time about prayer. In recent years prayer has become more and more important to me. Not just in my own life, but as I think about the challenges and opportunities facing us as Christians and, indeed, as the Church.
But here’s my question. Or, really, questions: What is prayer? How does it work? What do we imagine we are doing when we engage in it? If we’re not praying, why not?
I’ve said before that I don’t believe we have to understand prayer to do it. But I would like to understand it better, and I’d love your help. So I’ll put a few thoughts below and look forward to the wisdom and experience you have to offer. (And, yes, this will also help me write the chapter on prayer that will be a part of Making Sense of the Christian Life. :))
Okay, so I’ll start with a basic question and my gut reaction to it. Does praying a certain way or certain amount influence God’s disposition toward, or action in, the world? I don’t think so. But that raises another question: if it doesn’t, then why do we pray? I suspect a lot of folks ask that same question.
Here’s my hunch: I think prayer has more to do with relationship than “outcomes.” We pray, that is, because it is a vital way of remaining in relationship, just as we may pour out our hearts to a friend, lover, or family member not in the expectation that they are necessarily going to do something about it but because we need someone to share with. And as we share all these things the relationship grows stronger. I think that makes more sense to me. Prayer is about relationship.
Lately, though, I’ve been musing about prayer in another way. Perhaps prayer is also a way of attuning ourselves to God and our shared life. That is, among other things prayer is also a practice. It is a practice where we lift up to God our joys and concerns, dreams and fears, hopes and anxieties. And as we do so we are thinking about all these things in light of our relationship with God and our faith. That in turns means that every time we pray we bridge the gap between our “daily life” and our “faith life,” a gap that a lot of Christians I know – including myself at points – report as pretty significant and which has been named as one of the greatest contributors to people leaving church.
Let me share an example that has prompted this turn in my thinking. A year or two ago I was part of a retreat where we had regular times of devotion. During one of them, the leader invited us to go to a website that displayed the front pages of newspapers all over the United States. She invited us to find the paper of the town in which we grew up, to scan the front page, and to pray for the things we read about there. It was powerful. Why? Simply because I was being asked to think about everyday life and activities and people from the point of view of faith. Something I’d like to think I do regularly but that I was suddenly doing with more intentionality during this time of devotions and in a pattern that I could repeat.
There’s more that I’m wondering about, but I think this is probably enough to get things going. Now I’d love to hear from you. What do you wonder about prayer? What do you believe? What have you experienced? What questions do you have? If you’d be willing to put your musings, wisdom, and questions in the comments that would be fantastic. Thanks for sharing.
David, I found Walt Wangerin’s “Whole Prayer” helpful. He points out that whole prayer is a circle, closed and complete. We pour out our hearts and minds to God, who listens as we do. Then we listen intently for his voice when he speaks. Wangerin encourages readers not to eliminate any part of the circle so we don’t cut the conversation short.
Praying the news is the coolest thing. I encourage others to try it. In seminary I took a class on prayer and we had to pray the news every day, select a headline and write a prayer about that specific item and compile those headlines and prayers into a prayer journal. At the end of the class we looked back on our prayers to see how they may have changed. Mine certainly did, I moved from telling/asking God what to do, to reading the headline as I imagined God might see it, I prayed more expansively and inclusively and I listened more. I now find that I still pray as I read the news each day, it does not take long to develop a new habit, less than a semester.
This exercise was so transformative that I challenged my congregation to try the exercise. We decorated the walls of the nave with crumpled newspapers and featured a major news item on each one. Each week we added another one until the walls were filled. Then we went back to each one and every week offered a prayer about it and posted it on the wall. Several shared that it helped make the connection from faith to daily living.
What a good suggestion – praying the news.
I have been a part of a prayer group for about twenty years and have never been in a group that was more faithful about attending. We meet every Thursday morning at 10. The prayers are printed out; include scripture, hymns, poems, breath prayers, sometimes a little devotional piece. A list is provided in the hall for people to leave prayer requests and these are prayed by the leader during a time of sentence prayers. I know some people don’t like the idea of written prayers, but it works for us and some of the prayers are brought home to use during the day. We also share communion once a month.
Our church is doing a series on prayer for Lent, so great timing for this post. One of most interesting prayers for me is the one mentioned by Catherine Marshall of relinquishment. I’ve only tried it once when I thought I was at the end of my choices. I’m attaching a website of a lady who also mentions this prayer: http://www.hannahscupboard.com/prayer-relinquish.html
I don’t know anything about Hannah so this isn’t any endorsement…just another thought about prayer.
In Philip Yancey’s book about prayer, he talks about Jesus’ unanswered prayers. I had never before really thought about Jesus having prayers that were unanswered. I haven’t investigated this much but it might be an interesting thing to look into as you are writing about prayer.
I think the hard thing about prayer is that we want a formula. We want to be able to fully understand it so we know “how to do it” and get the results we want. But prayer connects us to God, and like many of the things in our faith that do that (baptism and communion for instance) we can know and understand some of it, but there is part that will always be a mystery. The wonderful and terrifying thing about prayer is that it draws us deeper into the mystery of God. It draws us deeper into the knowledge and experience that there is One who knows us and loves us, who seeks to care for us and redeem us and sustain us. Yet it also reveals to us the limits of what we know about the One who does these things for us and how God chooses to act in the world.
As you mentioned, God doesn’t always follow the rules and isn’t always predictable. That is wonderfully good news for us but also a rather uncomfortable thing as we are confronted with the limits of prayer. We want an if this then that formula that we can employ to control the outcome of events. But God doesn’t work like that and so prayer doesn’t work like that either. When I get frustrated with the limits of my understanding of prayer, I take comfort in knowing that God invites us to have a seat at the table and a voice in the conversation, even if that doesn’t always result in the outcome I want.
One of the simplest, and yet most profound understandings of prayer is poet Mary Oliver’s description in her poem entitled, aptly, Praying.
It doesn’t have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch
a few words together and don’t try
to make them elaborate, this isn’t
a contest but the doorway
into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.
I see your point about prayer being more about relationship than outcomes, Dave. At the same time, it’s tough to be in relationship with God thinking God is unmoved by our prayers.
Prayer requires faith. We may never know the outcomes, but in faith we pray anyhow. Prayer is a part of our vocation, we are called to pray, it is one of the good works that has been put before us to be our way of life.
Could prayer be a co-creative act? It might be, who am I to say it isn’t. I don’t know God’s purpose in wanting me to pray, or in calling me to pray with other Christians. But with God, all things are possible, even outcomes from prayer. The outcomes I don’t see (which are many) I can take on faith. And faith brings us right back to relationship.
Peace.
Tom
Prayer as a co-creative act – very thought provoking!
I think prayer is purposeful energy. It’s where God’s energy, meets our energy and we as a community join together. I can’t explain the science of it, but when we direct our energy and ask God and others to join us, amazing things happen.
in reading through others comments I noticed that many people referenced different books related to prayer; what I noticed missing was prayer in the form of shared prayer in a community context and prayer with music!
Both very powerful forms of prayer.
I’ll admit upfront that I’m a born and raised Catholic, I work in a parish so praying within the context of a community is a large part of our identity.
Whether its times of joy or sorrow, the community comes together in prayer at daily and weekly liturgies.
As a staff we pray together before meetings. Committee meetings begin with prayer.
a month ago we had a young man take his own life and our immediate reaction as a parish was to hold a prayer service.
This was a time that the community could come together and find some comfort with each other and their Heavenly Father-Mother-Creator.
Music is also a very powerful form of prayer. Just this morning when I was out walking with my dogs, I heard the song Shelter from Jars of Clay. Its a great reminder that we are not on this journey alone.
Sometimes music gives us the words when we don’t know what the words are.
I would really like to see this in action!
I have so struggled with prayer over the years. My struggle peaked when my friend’s husband was dying of a rare disease. He had gone to NIH for a bone marrow transplant and prayed fervently for him. I believed that the procedure would be a success and that he would be healed. But better yet, he would know that God had made a miracle in his life and both he and my friend would believe. Several months after the procedure, he passed away and saw my friend suffer as she – at 46 – buried the man she loved so much. My heart too was broken and I couldn’t stop wondering why God refused to answer my prayers.
And then I saw video produced by Nooma called open. In it, Rob Bell asked every question that I ever had about prayer. In the end, he offers the conclusion that prayer helps us align ourselves to God and makes us open to God’s leading in all things. In addition, prayer offers a way to truly connect with God and with one another. You can see a trailer of the video at: http://zondervan.com/9780310269434.
I was so thankful to hear this because I honestly had begun to worry that my prayers were not answered because I didn’t believe enough. NOPE!!! I’ve moved away from that idea and will never think that again! Thanks be to God!
This is a very good question & a great topic! I used to pray every night before bed. But after saying the same prayer for perhaps decades, I stopped. I didn’t feel as if it had meaning anymore. I felt they were simply words.
Within the last year, I have started to pray much more. Part of it is because of a very challenging work situation. As I’ve leaned on friends and turned to my Pastor, I have found great comfort knowing my friends are praying for me & am touched when my Pastor prays for me.
I feel the concept of prayer as relationship is what I have been building since I restarted my prayer life. I find myself “talking” or praying to God throughout the day. I have also found some prayers at the end of the daily Luther Seminary email “God Pause” very powerful. The most powerful ones have often been the shortest.
I’ve appreciated reading others thoughts on the subject & sharing resources. I’m still waiting to read one of my favorite author’s, Anne Lamott, new book “Help. Thanks. Wow: The Three Essential Prayers.” I think it does say it all.
I hope the conversation continues! I’m also interested in hearing on people listen for God in this relationship. I feel I do much of the talking and am open to listening, but am not sure if I know how. I’m open for tips on that!
Thank you David for yet another opportunity to share conversation on an important aspect of our faith and life!
Three things come to mind:
1. I resonate with your comment about prayer as a practice. At the 2012 Youth Gathering in New Orleans, one of the 3 days of the event was the Practice Discipleship Day. Youth and adults leaders from each synod met with their bishop (or bishop’s designee) to worship and to discuss seven faith practices of discipleship. Prayer was one of those.
In the midst of their worship, youth were invited into prayer in unique ways, even introducing them to different prayer postures (e.g. outstretched arms and heads lifted up) and through song and silence and breath. Beautiful!
2. I had the opportunity to worship at an Anglican church in Belgium recently, and the pastor was preaching on The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6). It’s an interesting text, isn’t it?…as Jesus instructs us to not pray as the hypocrites…loving to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners as to be seen by others…but instead to go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. Then Jesus says to pray in this way…”Our Father in heaven….”
So…when we enter “a closet in secret” (Which is not what we are used to – especially when saying this prayer) we are told to start our prayer with the word “Our”. The preacher that day said this is the word I want you to remember: Our. This word reminds us that we are praying to God the Father of all…and frames each section of the Lord’s Prayer. A beautiful reminder that when we ask for daily bread and forgiveness, and deliverance from evil I am not just asking those things for myself. Such a good reminder.
3. Outcomes…. What should I pray for and hope for when someone asks me to pray for a certain thing or someone? If we have just a little faith we can ask and a mountain might be moved, right? Of course this is so hard when we pray like crazy for a loved one to be healed of cancer, or survive a surgery, or come home safe from a war…and yet that isn’t what happens. Seems to me it’s more about asking God to reveal God’s self and for the person to be more fully aware of God’s love, grace and deep peace no matter what they are facing or what the outcome might be. (Which relates back to the relationship aspect of prayer…and discipleship.)
Thanks again for this forum and to all the others who have posted! LOVE the Mary Oliver poem!
I just think we get ourselves into trouble when we stipulate for God what healing means. I have come to the realization that sometimes healing is being born into the life to come. I often wish it were to be restored to a humanity that I know/knew, but being healed into the life beyond the veil is the best kind of healing in the long run, but not for the survivors left behind.
“Does praying a certain way or certain amount influence God’s disposition toward, or action in, the world? I don’t think so.”
I could not but wonder: does this reflect an emphasis on God’s immutability? (God cannot be moved by our prayers for He cannot change…) Or does it reflect a comfortable situation? (I do not need God to change as things are just fine for me…)
OR maybe I’m missing completely what you say?
My pastor once explained prayer as “not giving marching orders, but rather reporting for duty”.
Hard to do in times of crisis, especially, but helpful when approaching God in prayer
http://www.religion-online.org/showchapter.asp?title=375&C=31
Paul Tillich’s Sermon titled “Paradox of Prayer” has been one of my favorite’s of his, probably because it doesn’t prescribe but calls out the ambiguity of it all and puts prayer into question… sorry for the exclusive language in this link.
It is through prayer, often prompted when I’m in nature, that God reveals my deepest desires, greatest truths, and darkest sin (usually some cruel judgement toward myself or others). After these disclosures, I feel I know myself a little more as God knows me. And this is freeing. I don’t think I could see these things outside of a relationship with God. Often prayer is a kind of centering, of feeling connected to my inner being and part of all that is around me. Gratitude for all of life has become the most common expression of prayer. I often pray that this never ceases!!
David… I understand prayer as a dialog between a loving and gracious God, and faithful heart, even when shouting WHY? about such things as SAndy Hook. But for me the most important part of prayer comes from the opening up within in ones self that can come from thoughtful, deeply devotional prayer. We so often repress things, more often than not, subconsciously, a time of solitude and prayer, often allows us to release these from their inner recesses, the “hidden files” of our minds, and let us become more self aware. As we read in last Sunday’s gospel, Jesus and all the prophets proclaim truth. Prayer can help us see, and maybe if we are truly blessed, to understand our own truths, realeasing us from the self-imposed cells in which we often lock ourselves, because of our fears and worries. Are all prayers answered? I firmly avow that yes they are, jut not always in the way we hope, want or expect. And I say this as a Cleveland Browns fan :)!!! While we trust that God knows our heart, it is through prayer that we can have a chance to allow God to show us our own heart, breaking down those internal barriers, unlocking those recesses which are so easily to construct for ourselves. I thank you for your wisdom, your thoughts, your questions, your openess to the goodness that has been placed in creation to share these inmost concerns of your own. And thanks for the “Prayer Partners” idea in the latest Working Preacher post. It is going to be a Lenten discipline challenge for the two congregations I serve as a Lay Pastoral Assistant. Blessings to you!
Best book on the theology of prayer EVER, in my opinion is In God’s Presence: Theological Reflections on Prayer by Marjorie Suchocki
http://www.amazon.com/Gods-Presence-Marjorie-H-Suchocki/dp/0827216157
It may help you fill out your chapter with a little more oomph!
I’ve always believed that prayer should be as much about listening as it is about talking – or asking. Listening to what God is telling us “completes the circle” someone spoke of earlier. God did not say “this is my Son – the chosen – keep yakking at him.”
LISTEN to him.
Prayer is attentiveness, calling on god, asking for direction. It requires action but also waiting ecpectantly, with bated breath. God is real. God invites. We know because of experience. It is acting faithfully in response to Christ’s command, acting on others’ behalf, joining the communion of saints under the power of the Trinity. It is changing the world through our trusting that God’s directive to praye is powerful. Prayer is using God’s name in a way that pleases God. I praye because I have grown spiritually and I believe God, revealed to us in Christ.
Prayer, for me, is very personal. My prayers aren’t asking for things…my prayers are asking for guidance in how to respond to another person or situation. My prayers ask God to lead me, show me the way, calm my fears, give me strength, that God’s will be done, not my will. My prayers are thankful for the peace and joy I feel within even with the people around me spinning out of control. I thank God that I have been blessed and can be a blessing to others….if I just get myself out of my own way.
The granddaughter of a friend of mine had a liver transplant yesterday. My prayers for this 10 year old child are joined by prayers from all over the country, many, many prayers are being lifted for this child. This child and her family are not Christian, they are Jewish by birth but are non-practicing. They don’t have a faith-life, they don’t go to church. All of these prayers from all different faiths are directed to God….the One God of all faiths.
Corporate prayer, to me is thoughts of many people focused on the same thing and being lifted to God. Will God receive all of these prayers? I believe God will and I believe God will respond. I believe the family will find strength through these prayers to bear up through whatever happens to their child. I see all of the written responses from people they don’t even know sharing their fears and anxiety and carrying the burden for them if only for a little while. This family will be changed by this experience of people praying for them and their child, this un-churched family is feeling the power of these prayers.
We all know the saying that there are no Atheists in a fox-hole. This family is in a fox-hole, a very dangerous situation and this is when God is able to be received by those with unbelief….at a time of helplessness. This is a turning point in their lives and those of us who are praying for them will “walk” with them through prayer along this journey, no matter what happens. We will be with them. This is what Jesus would do.
When we wholly and completely enter into intentional prayer with God, we experience God’s peace – something that we cannot get from any other source. In an un-peaceful world, that alone is a reason to enter into prayer. But with that peace comes the knowledge that God is listening to me, enjoying our conversation, all the while reassuring me that while there are questions I may never get answered, and events that happen that are not to my liking (even though I prayed for a different outcome!), God is in control. When I pray, the peace I receive from God actually increases my faith, and allows me go into an evil world to deliver the message God wants people to hear.
The peace I receive from God through prayer is indescribable. That peace increased when my focus of prayer switched from “what I want” to “what I need.” I still pray for specific things (healing, comfort, strength, compassion, etc.), but I savor that peace that prayer brings.
Because prayer has to do with relationship and because it is also a way of attuning ourselves to God and our shared life God’s disposition toward, or action in the world is illumined, magnified and becomes proclamation/Word: evidence of the in-breaking of the kingdom of God; practical applications of the relational and attuned person’s prayer life: we are engaged by God and engaged with God through the power of the Holy Spirit in prayer and that has the light on the hill effect individually, corporately and globally.
I have just returned from an extended retreat time, marked by silence and prayer. certainly, prayer as relationship speaks to my understanding and experience of prayer. There is for me in that relationship a deep sense of “longing”. A longing for God’s touch, for God’s glory to be known and felt especially as I prayer for and with others. Sometimes as I greet parishioners at the door I am requested to pray for them or a situation that greatly concerns them. When those occasions arise I ask them if I can pray “now”, after they recover from my request, I quietly and simply raise their prayer concern to Jesus. It becomes an intimate moment in relationship that tries to express the longing in their request. I can see that they are moved by this simple act and I am equally moved as well. For those few seconds we feel God’s presence among us. So yes relationship and longing and for me something echoed by the previous messages, listening, which for me is my greatest struggle, one for which I welcome the silent hours of my retreat days. Blessed indeed are those who share for in this I find so much encouragement for my ministry.
In addition to so many insights on “prayer”, I wonder about how I am being changed through prayer, and about the need for persistence in prayer. Keep on following, keep on listening, keep on praying, keep on asking, keep on seeking; the need for persistence does not end. Could it be that just as we need to stay in touch with a friend, God invites us to keep on being in touch with God? Maybe in the process I am changed and I am willing to give up my attempts at controlling God in order to rest in God’s promise.
I was recently thinking how we often pray for all sorts of terrible situations, which seems good to do, but then often the situations, wars, starvation etc., continue. That doesn’t discourage my faith but it does make me wonder about the way we pray. It reminds me a bit of when Jesus said ‘the poor you have always’ and when he said ‘take up your cross’ and ‘the world will hates you as it hates me’ etc. sometimes I think we’d be happier, if we accepted that ‘in the world we will have tribulation but be of good cheer I [Jesus] have overcome the world’. In other words we should not be surprised or dismayed about the many bad, sad things, do what we can but not see the continuing problems as due to lack of prayer -am I on the right track or not?
I am again dismayed, although not surprised, at the lack of any mention of contemplative prayer in this discussion. Call it meditation, centering prayer, or mental prayer, building a friendship with God using no words at all (perhaps apart from a sacred word for the sake of keeping focus) has a long and rich history in the Christian tradition. Are we afraid of it, suspicious of it? Some are. Seen as a RC thing? Whatever is holding us back, it’s a crying shame. Contemplative prayer reveals the God beyond thought and image, it gets us out of ourselves and our boxes. And sometimes, a wordless presence is all the prayer one can muster. Words necessarily define, silence does not. Try it…or at least talk about it once in a while.
I agree, Randy. For years I have practiced Zen Meditation. Recently I have added praying the Jesus prayer, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.” Wordless prayer or praying a “mantra” like the Jesus Prayer open me to the working of the Spirit. Earlier in life I had troubles with conversational prayer, because I would always become distracted. In “New Seeds of Contemplation”, Thomas Merton wrote that if you haven’t been distracted in prayer, then you haven’t truly attempted to pray. Disciplines like ZaZen and hesychastic prayer help me to deal with distractions.
The God beyond thoughts and image can only be reached through prayer that is without thoughts and images. And, that God cannot be described, in a very good way. You’re also “spot on” when you say words necessarily define. They also separate. Silence neither separates nor limits. And God is, in fact, limitless.
John and Randy, I agree also. I was born RC and it was not taught to us in Catholic Schools. When I switched to Lutheran I was surprised to find out it was not a common form of prayer. I’ve found the repetition of one word or phrase to clear the mind and allow your mind to be intuned with God’s presence. I tell people the shortest prayer is “HELP”. When said it allows God to provide the help. The second shortest prayer is “JESUS”. Those two prayers have helped me in countless situations and provided others with a way to pray when they have no other words.
Prayer has been a sustaining force in my life this past year while undergoing my first major surgery and then chemotherapy. Before my surgery 2 churches I am closely affiliated with had healing prayer services with hands on prayer for me. Another church offered a long distance prayer vigil since I could not be with them personally. Having all these people pray for you gives you such strength, peace and a calmness that I have never experienced before.
Also, often in the middle of the night when I was awake and scared the most comforting thing was to pray with God and share my fears, anxieties and tears. This usually led to an unexpected calm demeanor from me (usually I am a total whimp with all previous medical stuff) and a total trust that the Lord was being strong for me when I could not be strong for myself. I thank God everyday for God’s healing power and presence in my life through all things. Prayer brings peace that passes all understanding. Praise God!
Being pulled towards the idea that prayer allows us to be proactive to the will of God rather than reactive. Being attuned to the Spirit gives us the ability to be ready for change. For me this is what the relationship prayer offers is about being prepared for the change that comes with that relationship. More often than not, we say we are ready for change, but resist. After all, we pray to give thanks and/or ask for something, asking means we want some change.
Last year our Vicar and I did a Lenten PRAY-ER seminar. We asked our participants to step outside their comfort zone and experience prayer in several different ways. We began by asking everyone to attempt to keep a PRAY-ER Journal, listen to Christian radio stations then each week we explained a prayer type and then did an exercise. Of all the numerous prayer types we selected Breath,Guided Meditation, Centering and Lectio Divina, Symbols, Signs, ICONS, Walking a Labyrinth & Body Prayer. Each week we stepped further outside the comfort zone of and then asked the participants to “practice” the type of prayer each week there was something to take with them ie prayer beads, a song, hand labyrinth to use during the week. I am a Labyrinth facilitator, an Iconographer and a liturgical dance Choreographer.
Our real purpose was to open the aperture for many of us who were taught that there was only one way to pray. IE head down eyes closed hands folded. Prayer was difficult for me for a long time then one summer at our Lay School Rev John Largen did a seminar on prayer that opened my eyes to prayer as conversation.
We may converse with God and bring up any issues yet the answer may not be right away. I was going through my parents belongings and came across the letters my dad sent to mom during WWII. Mom would write a letter and have to wait days or weeks before her letter was answered. In our world of instantaneous gratification we forget that in times past answers were NOT quick and sometimes letters were not answered.
All of our “letters” prayers have answers. Those answers are in the BIBLE— you know those letters from GOD. When you LISTEN for guidance you will be led to the answers.
A turning point in my prayer life has been learning to enter into the physicality of prayer–by which I mean the ways my entire being enters into prayer. Often this means simply a slowing down and relaxing into an open posture–face uplifted, hands open, breathing deeply. But also, for me, it sometimes means a visual aspect, an awakening of my mind’s eye, a “seeing” of what God is telling me, a “hearing” of God’s voice, and an envisioning of God’s activity in the world around me. This is very hard to put into words, as the experience is beyond words. We usually call these “visions”, and for me it took a perceptive pastor who helped me acknowledge this as the gift it is, ease my fear of it, and name these visions as prayer, to welcome this aspect of my prayer life.
We are often wary and afraid of the deep, mystical connections God makes with us–the secular world is ready to name them and diagnose them as disease, and the religious world is quick to tell us not to base our faith on experience or that we are “inventing our own god” by having them–so I don’t often talk of my “visual prayers” through which God guides and comforts and laughs with and corrects me. I have found, when I do share glimpses of them, that they’re more common than we think and many people hold them inside, as I did for most of my life, rather than be told they are “crazy”. Those who experience visions often wish they did not, because our culture places such a burden of fear and guilt on them.
I once entered into conversation with someone who has had visions all her life, always during prayer, and had never told anyone. She cried with relief as we talked about the many forms of prayer and relationship with God and she identified time after time that God was faithfully making God’s very self available to her in a way unique to her. At the end of our conversation, she said, “80 years is too long to be afraid.” So I share this now in the hopes that perhaps someone else will recognize something about their own prayer life and be encouraged in it, and claim it as the gift of relationship with God that it is: one way that God connects with some of us.
Thank you for hosting this conversation! I have enjoyed the variety of insights on prayer.
For me, prayer is an experience of God and prayer practice involves making space to recognize those God moments. Those practices can take on all sorts of forms. So for me, there is no right way to pray. And on occasion, we can sense the prayer that God is praying in and through us for the sake of the world…we name that prayer “call.” Because God is God, that prayer (call) does not end until the prayer is realized in the world.
If Jesus reveals God, then I guess we can say with some certainty that God does indeed pray. It changes the relationship some how. It’s pretty cool.
I really love to pray. Several years ago I attended a group where we learned about different ways to pray. I utilize different ways to pray, mainly using art. I also stumbled upon the Honi circle prayer which I also utilize artistically. Last week, I stumbled upon a new/old show called The cleaner, it only ran for two seasons, but the antagonist talked out loud to God. Now I am one to push boundaries, but I am uncomfortable talking outloud to someone who is not exactly visible to the eye. I will talk to my plants and my dogs, so I do not understand why I am having such a hard time talking out loud to God. And yes I love to say the name God. I am unsure as to why this particular show was canceled there are plenty of others that have some type of religious tendency that get canceled. This ticks me off to no end. I do a survey once in awhile for a website and it always asks how many times a week, month, or year one goes to church and how religious am I, and how often do I pray. I am very religious, I have to work weekends so I don’t go to church very often (although I have stated church should be more often than just Sunday), and I pray all the time. I do find that praying does help me mentally. Knowing that I am doing something for someone without being asked and then seeing how the prayer is answered is pretty cool. I kind of think of it as a science project. I really like how God thinks most of the time. The more it seems I do pray and read the Bible the more in tune I am to being guided on the path that I am going forward on. One day, my children will come across my prayer diary and maybe they will see some of my artwork in there and cherish the prayers I have lifted to God and then they will be creative in their own prayers. I do have to state for the record, I am as irreverent as they get so I am not looking for sainthood, that would definitely be boring.
A good friend and I were co presidents of a very diverse, very challenging elementary school. the prinicipal was a lovely hard working woman and we were all three very close. I am a liberal white UCC/uu minister, my friend is black and very evangelical, and the principal was Jewish. During a particualrly difficult time in the school as well as in the the pricipal’s personal life, we stopped during a meeting and my friend asked if she could pray for the principal, the principal said yes and the three of us held hands as my friend said a profound heartfelt and powerful prayer calling on Jesus and the Father-all three of us were deeply moved and had tears in our eyes. the Jewish prinicipal put her hands on her heart and said “thank you, I feel so much better and so much stronger.” It was a powerful example of the healing power of authentic prayer that can transcend personal beliefs.
David I ao appreciate you calling attention to prayer on workingpreacher.org as one of the 3 priorities for the church. I have found that the ancient practice of lectio divina- divine reading- is a powerful way to pray with scripture. As we do this we also attend to the other 2 priorities you lift up for the church: biblical imagination and vocation.
There are four stages in lectio divina: read, reflect, respond and rest.
You READ the text slowly and notice the words or images that jump out at you.
You REFLECT on the text and if the text is story you can imagine yourself as a character in the story.
You RESPOND to God’s invitation in the text and then you simply REST in God’s presence.
The reflecting and response stages of lectio help to open up biblical imagination and a sense of vocation in response to God’s invitation.
I agree with John, Randy and Karen above that we really need to practice contemplative prayer- just resting in God’s presence. Lectio divina is a powerful way to help people enter silent contemplative prayer, especially if silence and meditation feels “too eastern” as beginning with scripture feels a little more familiar.
Two colleagues and I have developed a resource for teaching or preaching about lectio divina over a 5 week period. We are all using it on the 5 regular Wednesdays of Lent (the five Wednesdays other than Ash Wed. and Holy Week).
The resource begins with an introduction about this way of praying with scripture and then looks at one stage of lectio each week for the next four weeks. If anyone is interested in this reply here and I’ll find a way to share it.
Amy, I am very interested in your 5 week lectio divina resource. I’ve practice this for several years and find that it brings new meaning to the Bible readings vs just reading through. When I use Lectio Divina I tend to remember key passages from the Bible when I least expect it as it becomes a part of my knowledge vs just memorizing a passage.
Karen great to hear from someone who also values lectio! I would be glad to share the resource just email me at amyzlarson (at) gmail.com
I’d be interested in the series on Lectio Divina. I have used it on occasion, but would like to go more in depth. Perhaps next lent… or sooner.
I would love to have some information on the Lectio Devina course program. Thanks if you can share any info by email.
Richard C. Trench put it this way: “Prayer is not getting man’s will done in heaven, but getting God’s will done on earth. It is not overcoming God’s reluctance but laying hold of God’s willingness.”
I think prayer is a powerful weapon in the face of worry. A method I’ve been using lately is praying through the Psalms; but not so much putting myself in the shoes of the Psalmist, but rather reflecting on the character of God as revealed in the Psalms. In those moments of worry and fear, we can turn to God in prayer and remind ourselves of who God is…faithful, personal, loving, a strong tower, and on and on. I love how Martin Luther put it that we should boldly pray and expect the promises of God in our lives simple because He has promised them – and He keeps His promises! So we boldly remind ourselves and God of who He is as revealed in His word.
During my 10 year old son’s battle with cancer I and hundreds of those around use never prayed harder for an outcome. We did not get the outcome we desperately hoped for. As a result I have given much thought to why we pray. Here is what I believe as Aaron’s Dad…
God set this beautiful world in motion but he does not get down to a physical level. I don’t think he placed the cancer cells into Aaron but I also don’t think he removes them. I think God hears our prayers and whispers to us to get the best possible outcome…but those outcomes are limited by our own abilities. When our abilities aren’t up to the task God whispers to us to bring mercy. I believe these whispers to be the Holy Spirit. I think Aaron was granted mercy and I believe it came through the whispers to his doctors.
For me to believe anything else would be to admit that God chose to let Aaron die of cancer. I can not fathom a “plan” that involves 10 year old boys dieting to be a good thing…so I don’t believe that. Instead, I believe Jesus was the first to cry when Aaron died.
I believe prayer is about our relationship with God. I also believe the communication is two way if our relationship with God is strong and our heart is open to listening. I have seen and heard much through this experience that reinforces this belief.