“….healthy prayer necessitates frequent experiences of the common, earthy, runof-the-mill variety. Like walks, and talks, and good wholesome laughter. Like work in the yard, and chitchat with the neighbors, and washing windows. Like loving our spouse, and playing with our kids, and working with our colleagues. To be spiritually fit to scale the Himalayas of the spirit, we need regular exercise in the hills and valleys of ordinary life.”
~Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding The Heart’s True Home, 1992
Pray then in this way:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not bring us to the time of trial,
But rescue us from the evil one.
~Jesus, according to Matthew 5:9-13 (NRSV English)
“I’ll be praying for you.”
You may have heard me say this. I take prayer seriously. If I say I will pray, then I do pray. That does not mean I am very good at it. It also means sometimes I don’t even know what to say to God because the needs of folks can be so great and overwhelming at times. Also, I never really hear any voices talking back to me (which interestingly seems to be a trick question on the psychological test for ministry. “Do you ever hear voices?”)
I do believe that it is important to pray. I pray:
privately
with my family
at meals
in worship
in Bible study
at church meetings
driving
in the grocery store
when I am outside in nature, whether it be tending to my garden or walking on a beach or sitting by a campfire in the mountains.
“The proper attitude for prayer is not playacting or manipulation. It is bringing out fears, concerns, worries, and questions to One who has the answers. The point of prayer is not to tell God what we want, but to receive what we need. It is not approaching God with our demands, but listening for God’s leading. It is not seeking our will, but learning to discern God’s will. This is so important to understand in a culture that caters to our every whim. Prayer isn’t about me—it is about God.”
~James Mulholland, Praying Like Jesus: The Lord’s Prayer in a Culture of Prosperity, 2001
I like the prayers of youth, especially middle school aged youth! They are just so very honest during prayer time. They are very concrete in what they offer up to God. Once I took around 100 middle school youth who were in the middle of a mission trip to a chapel and asked them to pray for one of our senior high youth who was leaving to go be a missionary in the Amazon rain forest for a month that summer. The adults thought I was crazy. We spent over an hour in prayer in that chapel. Occasionally one of the youth would stand up an offer a spoken prayer but mostly it was a time of silence and soft guitar music in the background.
When we got on the bus to go back to our dormitory, several youth said, “Charles! Dude! That is the coolest thing I’ve ever done! God rocks!” Several adults told me they were embarrassed by their own attitudes and now felt the need to take prayer as seriously as the youth had done.
There really is no rightness or wrongness about taking the time to pray. If you are finding that prayer is not part of your daily walk, let me offer some friendly suggestions:
When you wake up in the morning, just say “God, thank you for a new day.”
When you go to bed at night, just say “God, thank you for today.”
When you stop to eat a meal, just say “God, thanks for the food.”
Really, this is a perfect start to grow deeper in your spiritual life. If you want to go deeper and have a set prayer time to pray for certain people and situations here are five groups to pray for:
People closest to you
People who point the way for you
People in leadership positions
People who are weak or in need
Yourself
Often when I pray, I write down people’s names in a cheap spiral notebook. As I pray, I jot down any inspirations I might have. I am a visual person so seeing a person’s name written out really helps me to focus.
It is a little harder when I pray for myself. I just know too much about me! I pray for myself anyway.
“Only in the context of grace can we face our sin; only in the place of healing do we dare show our wounds; only with a single-minded attention to Christ can we give up our clinging fears and face our own true nature.”
~Henri J. M. Nouwen, The Way Of The Heart: Connecting with God Through Prayer, Wisdom, and Silence, 1981
I believe prayer changes the world. I pray the Jesus prayer (see above) often, especially when I am not sure what words to use in my prayer time. I have a friend who keeps a journal of prayers that she finds by other people, some famous, some unknown. She says it helps because she is never very sure what to say to God.
Prayer is this basic: It is talking to God and listening to God. The math of prayer works like this—we have one mouth and two ears, so listen twice as long as you talk. Know this: There is nothing wrong about saying things to God. It does not matter which emotions you might be feeling. God takes in everything because God loves you just as you are. Being honest with God helps us grow.
When you pray you can count on these things (according to James Martin, SJ in his book
Learning to Pray: A Guide for Everyone, 2023):
• God will show up.
• You will encounter God.
• You will experience God’s love.
• God will invite you into further conversation.
• God will invite you into deeper relationship.
• All these things, even if they happen fleetingly, make prayer more than worthwhile.
Last month I wrote about why the Bible matters. I think that prayer matters just as much. These two historical Christian practices are the foundation of the beloved community.
In my conversation with church members over the last year, I often hear that everybody wants growth. Growing by including new people in the beloved community. Growing in friendship with each other. Growing in our understanding of God and the stories of God we find in scripture. Growing our individual spiritual lives and also the overall spiritual life of the beloved community. Growing in understanding exactly what God is up to in our city of Wichita Falls so that we can join in God’s mission.
The reason I say that the Bible and prayer matter is simply this: Growth only happens in churches where the Bible and prayer are taken seriously by all of the members. We don’t have to be experts; we just have to do our best. God meets us exactly where we are. God loves us. Prayer convinces me of this.
I hope you find this encouraging and not overwhelming. If you need help is crafting a prayer discipline designed just for your personality, I would love to help you with that! Just ask and I will help.
Peace and grace,
~Charles
Copyright Charles W. Harrison - WFMCC Newsletter 8/15/24
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