The same is true with our growth in Christ.  Those pursuing Christ-likeness must commit long hours to training.  Yet the little things count  as well.  Small habits throughout the day contribute meaningfully to their growth.

In this series, I’ll share some of the small habits I practice regularly.  Most take ten minutes or less.

#1 Pray Through One Psalm/Day

Each morning I pray one psalm out loud.  Sometimes the psalm permits me to pray it verbatim.  Sometimes I have to change some of the wording to fit my circumstance.  Sometimes I rewrite the psalm in my own words (see the series on this blog “Prayers from the Psalms”).  Sometimes I memorize the psalm, especially if it is short. 

It only takes a few minutes but this often provides words for unspoken desires and struggles within me.  On rare occasions when I can’t seem to find a personal connection to the psalm, I pray it on behalf of others (e.g., I pray the imprecatory psalms for those suffering from the unjust treatment of the powerful).

Usually I just go through the psalms chronologically, from1 to 150, praying one a day. 

Try this brief and simple practice.  I believe you’ll experience God and growth in new ways.

Prayer as Active Asking

Several days ago the small group which my family and I attend discussed the prayer-life of Jesus.  After a lengthy conversation, several of us confessed our desire to spend more time in prayer—like Jesus.  But one group member spoke for more than just herself when she said, “But honestly, I don’t know what I would do if I spent more time in prayer.  I’m not sure what else I would say.  I’d run out of things to pray about.”  She and we wanted to spend more time in prayer.  But we were confused about how we’d actually spend that time.

This is most likely a symptom of a particular view of prayer.  For many of us prayer primarily involves what I’ll call Active Asking.  Prayer, for most of us, is an active, not passive, activity.  It involves us physically doing something.  Our hands fold.  Our mouths open.  Our tongues move.  And our minds cycle through the list of needs, requests, issues, and topics.  It is an active asking.

Thus, when it comes to increasing the amount of time we spend in prayer, the only increase we can imagine is an increase in that activity and that asking.  We’ll need to find more things to request, more people to intercede for, more topics of conversation to process with God, and more issues requiring his divine attention.  In other words, if we want to increase our prayer time we’ll need to increase our prayer list.

Not that this is bad.  One thing that becomes clear by praying through the Psalms, the prayers of Jesus, the prayers of Paul, and the petitions of others in Scripture is that there are many things on the prayer lists of these godly men and women which are not on our prayer lists.  We ought to spend more of our time praying about the things which show up on their prayers lists.

But there is a limit to the length of one’s prayer list.  There is a limit to this side of prayer.  Prayer, in Scripture, was never intended to solely be Active Asking.  There is an entirely different side to prayer.  It is a side of prayer new to many of us.  Yet it is a side which opens grand new experiences with God and bold new opportunities in prayer.

Psalms and the Other Side of Prayer

This other side of prayer begins to peek out at us when we read through portions of the Psalms.  The Psalms are certainly filled with Active Asking.  There are a lot of prayer lists in the Psalms.  But there’s something else there.  Something that may escape our notice because it is quiet and unassuming.  At first glance, it doesn’t even appear to be prayer.

One of the things which those praying in the Psalms emphasize is the importance of being quiet and still (ESV):

• Psalm 4:4 – Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent.
• Psalm 23:2 – He makes me lie down in green pastures.  He leads me beside still waters.
• Psalm 37:7 – Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!
• Psalm 46:10 – “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”
• Psalm 62:1,5 – For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation..For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.
• Psalm 131:1, 2 – O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.  But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.

One of the things which those who prayed the Psalms into existence emphasize is the importance of quietness and stillness.  There is a side to prayer that is less active and more passive, less doing and more being.  There is a type of prayer which involves silence and stillness. 

Silence and stillness are things which can conquer sinful anger (Ps. 4:4).  God desires to bring us to experiences of “still waters,” restful and quiet moments (Ps. 23:2).  Stillness is one of the ways in which we stop trying to take control and allow God to take control (Ps. 37:7).  It is often in quiet rest that we best come to know and experience that God is truly God (Ps. 46:10).  It is in times of silence that we find salvation and hope (Ps. 62:1,5).  And God wishes to bring us to times with him when we are like a weaned child with its mother, resting quietly in his presence (Ps. 131:1,2).

This other side of prayer is also teased out in the Psalms through the oft-repeated theme of waiting on the Lord (ESV):

• Psalm 25:3 – Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
• Psalm 25:5 – Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.
• Psalm 25:21 – May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.
• Psalm 27:14 – Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!
• Psalm 31:24 – Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the LORD!
• Psalm 33:20 – Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield.
• Psalm 37:7 – Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!
• Psalm 37:9 – For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land.
• Psalm 37:34 – Wait for the LORD and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on when the wicked are cut off.
• Psalm 38:15 – But for you, O LORD, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.
• Psalm 39:7 – And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you.
• Psalm 40:1 – I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry.
• Psalm 52:9 – I will thank you forever, because you have done it.  I will wait for your name, for it is good, in the presence of the godly.
• Psalm 62:1,5 – For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation…For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.
• Psalm 130:5 – I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope.
• Psalm 130:6 – my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.

There is a lot of waiting going on in the prayers and songs of the Psalms.  Courage comes as we wait (Ps. 27:14).  God answers as we wait (Ps. 38:15).  Hope arrives as we wait (Ps. 39:7). 

Waiting is something that is passive.  Waiting involves a lot of standing around and doing nothing.  It involves stillness.  In fact, twice a psalmist ties “waiting” and “stillness” or “silence” together:

Psalm 37:7 – Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him

Psalm 62:1,5 – For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation…For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.

Psalm 62 is especially instructive.  David, the author, is facing significant challenges.  But in the face of these difficulties, he waits silently before God (NLT):

1 I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from him.  2 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken.  3 So many enemies against one man—      all of them trying to kill me.  To them I’m just a broken-down wall or a tottering fence.  4 They plan to topple me from my high position.  They delight in telling lies about me.  They praise me to my face but curse me in their hearts.

Silent and still waiting is so beneficial in the face of these challenges that David once more speaks to himself, telling himself to remain quiet before God:

 5 Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him.  6 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken.  7 My victory and honor come from God alone.  He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.

The word translated “alone” or “only” begins 5 of the verses in the Psalm.  David wants to emphasize that “only God” and “God alone” is his strength and help in difficult times.  The way he comes to understand this and express this is through still and quiet waiting.

Prayer as Restful Receiving

While many of us operate with a paradigm of prayer as “Active Asking” these Psalms point to another paradigm—prayer as “Restful Receiving.”  Here, prayer is not acting.  It is resting.  Here, prayer is not asking.  It is receiving.  Prayer becomes less something we do and more something that is done to us.  We rest in the Lord.  We are quiet and still in His presence.  We calmly wait—for knowledge of him, for action from him, for a word from him.

This type of prayer has become known as “Contemplative Prayer.”  In a nutshell, Contemplative Prayer, or what I’m calling “Restful Receiving,” is simply spending intentional time in silence before God.  It is prayer that is intentional time in silence before God.  It can be for the sole purpose of resting in God and just being with God.  It can be for the additional purpose of receiving something from God—knowledge of God, a word from God, some action of God’s. 

Restful Receiving, however, is not what we may think (or fear!).

1. It is not a relaxation exercise.[i]  The primary purpose is not to lower blood pressure or decrease stress—although those things can certainly happen.
2. It is not a mystical experience in which God appears visibly to us or audibly speaks to us.[ii]  In our stillness and quietness, God certainly could choose to appear visibly or speak audibly.  But that’s not to be expected.
3. And it is not an attempt to empty the mind.  The purpose of Eastern meditation is to empty the mind.  But the purpose of Restful Receiving is more to fill the mind—with God.[iii]

Restful Receiving is primarily spending intentional time in silence before God.  In that stillness we can receive the rest God wishes to bring and we can enjoy just “hanging out with God.”  In addition, that quietness allows us to be more receptive to something God may wish to do or to reveal.  We may receive from God a small but important word about our day, about our past, or about something God is teaching us regarding himself.

Because of biblical texts like the Psalms, for the first 16 centuries of Christianity, Restful Receiving was recognized as the goal of Christian spirituality.  It was expected that every Christian would strive to experience this type of prayer.  The Greek Church Fathers used the word “theoria” to describe an experiential knowledge of God.  “Theoria” was translated into the Latin word from which we get the English word “contemplation.”  Literally, Contemplative Prayer is experiencing God, being with God.  One ancient author called it “resting in God.”  This type of “resting in God” was understood to be the final step in a widely prescribed method of Bible reading called  “lectio divina”, or divine reading, which culminated in contemplation.  Lectio Divina consisted of three steps:

1. Meditatio – a reflective pondering of the words of a text.
2. Oratio – our spontaneous response to those reflections in spoken prayer.
3. Contemplatio – a state of resting in the presence of God.[iv] 

A couple of images may help make more sense of this type of prayer.  First, imagine a car with an engine and a radio.  We often hear the loud radio but we rarely just listen to the engine.  In fact, the only time we tend to hear the engine is when something is wrong.  The radio signifies much of our world and much of what occupies our attention in life.  The engine signifies God.  He is what ultimately drives our life.  Restful Receiving is a way of turning down the noise of the world (the radio) in order to attend to the voice and presence of God (the engine).[v]

Second, imagine a river flowing with water.  On top of the water are boats and other debris (branches of trees, some garbage, etc.).  We often tend to focus on the boats that are on the water and on the debris floating down the river.  We don’t pay that much attention to the water itself.  The boats and debris signify much of our world and much of what occupies our attention in life.  The water itself signifies God.  Restful Receiving is a way of turning our attention from the boats and debris to the river itself.[vi]

Concerning the restful element of this type of prayer Peter of Celles wrote this in the Middle Ages:[vii] “God works in us while we rest in him.  Beyond all grasping is this work of the Creator, itself creative, this rest.  For such work exceeds all rest, in its tranquility.  This rest, in its effect, shines forth as more productive than any work.” 

There is a rest of the soul that comes only through Contemplative Prayer.  And it is a rest that ultimately proves to be more productive than any work we might do.  The fruit of resting silently in God will be borne throughout the rest of the day, the week, the month, and the year.

Regarding the receiving element of Contemplative Prayer, a 4^th century Desert Father wrote these words:[viii] “Behold, my beloved, I have shown you the power of silence, how thoroughly it heals and how fully pleasing it is to God.  Wherefore I have written to you to show yourselves strong in this work you have undertaken, so that you may know it is by silence that the saints grew, that it was because of silence that the power of God dwelt in them, because of silence that the mysteries of God were known to them.”

There is spiritual growth that will only take place through silence.  There is power that becomes available only through silence.  There is knowledge and understanding that only comes through silence.

Restful Receiving Light

 There are many ways to incorporate Restful Receiving into our lives.  I’ll mention three general ways.

First, we can practice what I’ll call “Restful Receiving Light.”  We can incorporate moments of intentional silence into activities we are already doing.  For example, my drive to work takes about twenty minutes each morning.  For about ten minutes of the drive, I listen to an audio version of the One Year Bible.  For the remaining ten minutes, I just drive in silence.  It is intentional silence because I remind myself that God is present with me and it is my desire to just spend that silent time with him.  I find that I am peaceful, sharp, and God-oriented once I arrive at the church building because of those few moments of silence.

Perhaps you walk or bike or run for exercise.  Consider spending at least part of that time in silence.  No whistling.  No iPod.  Just walk, bike or run in quietness.  But be intentional.  Remind yourself that God is with you and you desire to spend that time with him.

The next time it’s your turn to wash the dishes, or make dinner, or do some other chore or household task, do it in silence.  Remind yourself that God is present and you want to be present to him.  No TV.  No radio.  Just intentional silence.

Restful Receiving Light is when we work intentional silence into things we are already doing.

Targeted Restful Receiving

Second, we can practice what I’ll call “Targeted Restful Receiving.”  In Targeted Restful Receiving we set some item before God and we silently seek to hear from God about it.  That item might be a text.  As we read the Bible, we might bring that text before God and seek to hear from God about that text.  In addition, similar to the practice of The Examen, we might bring a specific time period (e.g., the last 6 hours) before God and seek to hear from God about that time period.  Or we might bring before God a specific issue, challenge, or trouble and seek to hear from God about that issue, challenge, or trouble.  The goal is to intentionally bring something before God and then to be quiet and receptive to something he may lead us to understand regarding that item.

For example, I do this when I read the Bible early each morning.  I read the text slowly and deliberately out loud several times.  Then I am quiet.  And I seek to hear from God what part of that text does he most want me to pay attention to?  What part of that text is the most important word for me to hear that day?

If you find yourself worried or anxious about something, take a few moments to verbalize that to God, and then sit in silence.  God may communicate something to you regarding that item.

If you find yourself needing to make a decision, verbalize that to God, then sit in silence.  Be receptive to what God might communicate in that stillness.

Restful Receiving Premium

Finally, we can practice what I’ll call “Restful Receiving Premium.”  This is the most formal version of Contemplative Prayer.  This is not silent time we add to something we are already doing.  This is silent time we carve out of our schedule.  It is not silent time meant to hear from God.  It is silent time meant simply to spend in the presence of God. 

Ideally, it is 20 minutes at the beginning of the day and 20 minutes at the end of the day.  The goal is not to hear from God, but to be with God and be present to God for 20 full minutes of silence.  It takes at least this long for the average person’s mind to stop wandering and grabbing on randomly to thoughts, memories, and feelings and to arrive at a state of true interior silence.

Ideally, in this level of Contemplative Prayer, we sit with our eyes closed and are present with God in total silence.  No inspirational music playing.  No humming or singing.  Just silence.  In the silence our mind begins to wander.  Rather than try to ignore those distracting thoughts, we intentionally let go of them, as if releasing a stick and allowing it to float down the river.  As each emotion or random thought comes, we attend to it and let it go down stream.  The goal is let these go and to just exist in the presence of God.[ix]  We are not trying to solve any problems, process any feelings, or understand any text.  We are trying to intentionally spend 20 minutes in stillness with God. 

Letting God Be God

Perhaps one of the most important aspects of Contemplative Prayer or Restful Receiving is that through it we allow God to be God.  At times, prayer can be a power trip.  It can be our attempt to get God doing what we want him doing.  It can be our way of trying to persuade God to fulfill our wishes and dreams and aspirations.  But Restful Receiving turns those tables.  Restful Receiving forces us to just be quiet and let God do what he wants to do.

 This is captured beautifully in Psalm 131 (The Message):

1God, I’m not trying to rule the roost, I don’t want to be king of the mountain.  I haven’t meddled where I have no business or fantasized grandiose plans.  2 I’ve kept my feet on the ground, I’ve cultivated a quiet heart.  Like a baby content in its mother’s arms, my soul is a baby content.  3 Wait, Israel, for God. Wait with hope.  Hope now; hope always!

May we rest in God and find our soul’s content in that rest.

[image]

[ii] Ibid.

[iii] Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline Revised Edition (Harper & Row, 1988), 20.

[iv] Keating.

[v] Mark Thibodeaux Armchair Mystic (Saint Anthony Messenger Press, 2001.

[vi] Keating.

[vii] Thomas Merton Contemplative Prayer (Image Books, 1996), 59.

[viii] Ibid., 42.

[ix] Keating.

Perhaps the Gethsemane prayer was the prayer remembered by the Hebrew author when he wrote this summary of the prayers of Jesus: “In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears…”  (Heb. 5:7). 

There are many qualities of Jesus’ prayers which the Hebrew author might have memorialized: their frequency, their other-centeredness, their intimacy, etc.  But what he remembers most is that Jesus prayed “with loud cries and tears.”  What he finds most important is that Jesus lamented.  You have his permission to sob in your supplications.

[image]

Imagine that you are sitting in a chapel and a memorial service has just started.[i] There are faces in the crowd you recognize.  Coworkers.  Former classmates.  Friends.  Family members.  Neighbors.  A minister strides to the podium and reads the eulogy.  Suddenly you realize this isn’t just any funeral—it’s your funeral.  The minister indicates that several will be sharing thoughts about you this morning: a family member, a close friend, a coworker, and someone you worshipped with.  What would you want them to say about you?  What would you have hoped to accomplish in life?  It’s likely that your hopes, regrets, or thoughts will revolve around these three areas: the quality of your relationship with others, the depth and authenticity of your relationship with God, and a perspective on material things which enabled you to be generous toward others.

This is the triad on which our lives are built.

They are the three sides of the triangle of life.

They are the content of our most inspiring dreams, our deepest regrets, and our greatest accomplishments.

Life is rooted in our relationship with others, with God, and with things

Jesus on the Three Important Relationships

Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount focuses on these same three relationships:

• First, Jesus examines our relationships with others.  He takes up our anger management issues, feuds that take place between us and our family and friends, legal disputes we have with people in the marketplace, marital struggles, the way we lie to others, and the sticky problem of relating to the insensitive and abusive people in our lives (Matt. 5:21-48).

• Second, Jesus explores our relationship with God.  He discusses the way that flashy and public religious acts cannot take the place of humble and private spiritual disciplines, the myths we mistakenly cling to when it comes to prayer, the fundamental role that prayer plays around the globe, and the ingredients of an authentic spiritual life (Matt. 6:1-18).

• Finally, Jesus examines our relationship with material things.  He reveals the transient nature of the material possessions which claim so much of our devotion, the dark side of a life lived in pursuit of things, how to alleviate the anxiety which accompanies living in a culture of consumerism, and a perspective that puts everything from cash to cars to computers in their proper place (Matt. 6:19-34).

Just as Moses ascended a mount and delivered the Ten Commandments, so Jesus ascends the Mount to deliver his commandments.[ii] Just as the Ten Commandments focused on our relationship with God (you shall have no other gods before me…), our relationship with one another (you shall not murder…), and our relationship with things (you shall not covet your neighbor’s house…), so Jesus’ commandments here focused on the very same triad.

Attachment and Detachment

In Matt. 6 Jesus uses three “acts of righteousness” to further discuss these relationships: 1″Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.  2Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others…5And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others…16And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others.” (Matt. 6:1-16 ESV)

While Jesus cautions against the abuses of giving, praying, and fasting, he ultimately urges us to be characterized by the appropriate practice of all three.  As Jesus encapsulates what we might call “the spiritual life,” he shows that it consists of three basic practices: praying, giving, and fasting.

The first two, praying and giving, are habits of attachment.

By praying, we focus on attaching ourselves to God.  We gain intimacy with God.  We connect with God.  We take an active step to draw closer to God.  Praying is an act of attachment to God.

By giving, we focus on attaching ourselves to others.  We connect with others.  We show love for others.  We take an active step to draw closer to them.  Giving is an act of attachment to other people.

But fasting is fundamentally different.  While praying and giving are acts of attachment, fasting is an act of detachment.  In its broadest sense, when we fast, we detach ourselves from material things that interfere with our increasing attachment to God and to others.  We let go of material things, like food, but even of immaterial things, like goals and agendas, which compete with our attachment to God and to others.

Jesus, Detachment, and God 

The role of fasting as detachment is seen in Jesus’ life: 1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matt. 4:1-4 ESV).

Mark Buchanan writes, “The forty days without food, far from weakening Him at the moment of encounter with the devil, actually strengthened Him for it.  Jesus was in peak condition, a fighter who had been training hard for forty days straight.”[iii] Fasting was an essential way in which Jesus strengthened himself regarding his attachments to God and to others.

The devil tells Jesus to stop fasting: “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” We are told that this is a test, a temptation.  The real nature of the temptation becomes clearer by looking at Jesus’ response.  Jesus quotes from the book of Deuteronomy.  These words were spoken by Moses to the Israelites before they entered the Promised Land.  The words were a reminder of the hunger they had experienced during their travel over the wilderness.  The words were a reminder of the purpose of that hunger: 2And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. 3And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. (Deut. 8:2-3 ESV).

The Israelites involuntarily fasted as they crossed the wilderness.  God forced them to fast in order to test their hearts, to humble them, and to teach them that people do not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

For the same reason, Jesus voluntarily fasted.  He gave up food for forty days and nights in order to test his heart, to humble himself, and to teach himself and us that people do not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

The Devil wants Jesus and us to trust that life is about meeting our personal needs, about turning stones to bread.  It’s about being comfortable.  It’s about being free from pain.

Jesus, however, makes this claim—people do not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.  In other words, life comes from feeding on God.  Jesus put it this way in Jn. 4:34: “My food is to do the will of him who sent me…”  That’s living, Jesus says.  To hunger and thirst after God.

Leon Morris writes, “The deep famine of the world is a famine, known or unknown, for the word of God . . . The human person has hidden hungers, deep cravings, a psychic yearning for more.  What is this more?  Every word that comes pouring out of God’s mouth.”[iv]

And it is fasting which best teaches us this.   We realize, in the midst of fasting, that our spirit hungers and thirsts for God even more than our stomach hungers and thirsts for bread.  Fasting reminds us that happiness and life only come by eating God’s word, by pursuing God himself.

Thus Jesus fasts, he detaches himself from something material, and that enables him to even better attach himself to God.

Jesus, Detachment and Others

But fasting not only improves attachment to God.  In the rest of this text, we find fasting improving Jesus’ attachment to others.  5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’  and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”  7Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”  11Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. (Matt. 4:5-11 ESV).

The first test is very private in nature: turning stones to bread.  Only the devil would see.  But the second and third tests are very public in nature.  One takes place at the peak of the temple and its view of the public courts.  The other takes place in the presence of all the kingdoms and nations of the world.  And if the first encounter tests Jesus’ attachment to God, the second and third encounters test Jesus’ attachment to others.  How does Jesus wish to posture himself in relationship to the Jewish people at the temple and to the inhabitants of the kingdoms of the world?  Does Jesus wish to position himself as a spectacular worker of the astounding, amazing crowds by diving from the temple and being saved at the last second by God’s angels?  Does Jesus wish to position himself as a dictator and tyrant who powerfully rules every human kingdom on earth?  The second and third temptations have to do with the nature of Jesus’ attachment to others.

And as in the first encounter, so in these encounters, it is fasting which strengthens Jesus’ attachment.  He not only lets go of food, but he lets go of any personal inclinations to be seen as spectacular or powerful.  He not only removes food from his physical diet, but he removes selfishness from his relational diet.  And this, in the end, helps ensure that his attachment to us remains strong.

Detachment

Seen in its broadest perspective, this is why Jesus points to the three practices of praying, giving, and fasting.  It is not enough to engage in practices and habits of commission like praying and giving.  We also need a discipline of omission like fasting.  Through fasting we let go of anything and everything which may interfere with our attachment to God and to others.

Often this fasting focuses on material things, including food.  But it can also focus on immaterial things.  In detachment, we identify the appetites which compete with our attachment to God and to others, and we deny those appetites.  We starve those appetites.  We say “No” to them so that we might better say “Yes” to God and to others.

Fasting from food is an important form of detachment and the literal focus of Jesus’ teaching here.  How do we get started in fasting?  Start by fasting from one meal and spend that meal-time drawing near to God.  Then, consider a 24 hour fast.  Miss two meals.  For instance, eat supper tonight, then skip breakfast and lunch tomorrow.  That’s a 24 hour fast.  Spend the time you would normally spend eating in intentional practices that build your connection with God or with others.

But detachment and fasting take other forms as well.  Adele Calhoun writes this:[v] “Fasting is an opportunity to lay down an appetite—an appetite for food, for media, for shopping.  This act of self-denial may not seem huge—it’s just a meal or a trip to the mall—but it brings us face to face with the hunger at the core of our being.  Fasting exposes how we try to keep empty hunger at bay and gain a sense of well-being by devouring creature comforts.  Through self-denial we begin to recognize what controls us.”

Thus we might practice a fast of one of several things in addition to food:

Shopping

TV

Music

E-mail

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Getting the last word in.

This kind of fasting or detachment ultimately strengthens our attachment to God and to others.

But detachment ultimately becomes a lifestyle.  Adele Calhoun writes about how her mother once commented on how much she liked a tablecloth in a friend’s home.[vi] The friend whipped it off the table and gave it to her on the spot.  This experience shaped Calhoun.  She now, from time to time, gives away what is admired by others in her home just as practice of detachment.  It’s a way of ensuring that things don’t interfere with her relationship with God or with others.

Jesus is telling us that the key to a healthy spiritual life is not to simply focus on prayer—attachment to God, or to simply focus on giving—attachment to others.  We also need to practice forms of fasting—ways of detaching from things so that we might be freer to attach to God and to others.

[ii] John Stott, The Message of the Sermon on the Mount, The Bible Speaks Today (IVP, 1978), 2.

[iii] Mark Buchanan Your God is Too Safe (Multnomah 2001), 187.

[iv] Leon Morris The Gospel According to Matthew (Eerdmans, 1992), 107.

[v] Adele Calhoun, Spiritual Disciplines Handbooks (IVP, 2005), 220.

[vi] Calhoun, 97.

In her “Spiritual Disciplines Handbook,” Adele Calhoun describes more than 60 spiritual disciplines.[1]  This Sunday night series takes up 10 of the most uncommon disciplines from Calhoun’s list.  We’ve explored the uncommon practices of “Unplugging,” “Celebration,” “Secrecy,” and “The Examen.”  Tonight, we explore “Practicing the Presence

#5 – Practicing the Presence

Before we plunge into the practice itself, I want to spend some time developing the theology behind it.  There are many ways to do this.  I’ll focus on just two main Scriptures, one in the New Testament and one in the Old Testament.  Both help us gain a clearer view of God and thus a clearer understanding of the reason we might embrace “Practicing the Presence.”

First, the New Testament: 22So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’;  as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’  29 Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. 30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:22-31 ESV). 

In this sermon, Paul critiques the way people in the pagan culture of Athens viewed God.  Scholar D. A. Carson notes that Paul finds several ways in which the pagan view of the gods differed from the Christian view of God.^[2]  In this sermon, Paul identifies those misperceptions and corrects them.  Here are a few:

1. Contrary to the ancient pagan assumption that gods rule only over a particular domain (e.g., Neptune and the sea), Paul states that the true God is “Lord of heaven and earth” and “does not live in temples made by man.” (17:24).
2. Contrary to the polytheistic notion of gods who are limited and who have needs, Paul states that the true God “is [not] served by human hands, as though he needed anything” (17:25).  God is self?existent and is utterly independent from us.
3. Paul does want to leave the impression that he is preaching a deistic message.  Thus he states that  God “is not far from each one of us (17:27).” God is not only transcendent, he is imminent.  Paul acknowledges that even some “modern” thinkers have rightly reached this conclusion (17:28).

I want to focus more closely on two of the wrong assumptions about God which Paul pointed out in this sermon: God is domestic and God is deistic.  There was a notion in ancient pagan religions that God is domestic—that is, God dwells in one particular geographical region or one particular nation or in one particular temple.  If you wanted to converse with or be in relationship with a particular God you had to be in that God’s part of the globe, or in his nation, or at his “house” or temple.  In addition, there was a common assumption that God was deistic—that is, God made us and the world, he set things in motion, and now he sits back and watches things from a distance.  He is not near and not involved in the affairs of humans.

But Paul reveals that the Christian God is not domestic.  He does not dwell in a particular geographical region or one particular nation or one particular temple.  He is the “Lord of heaven and earth.”  His domain is all of the cosmos.  He dwells everywhere.  He can be found on any part of the globe, in any nation, and at any house.

And, Paul reveals that the Christian God is not deistic.    He is not far from each one of us.  Ours is not a distant God but a near God.  He is a God intimately involved in human affairs and deeply interested in intimacy with us.

These two qualities are also highlighted in the Old Testament in Psalm 139.  It is common to see this psalm as one which focuses on God’s omniscience (139:1-6) – God knows all things; God’s omnipresence (139:7-12)—God exists in all places; and God’s omnipotence (139:13-18)—God can do all things. ^[iii]  But the psalm can also be viewed as a stirring poetic protest against any notion that God is domestic or that God is deistic. 

In 139:1-6, 13-18 we hear that God is not deistic but that God is near and intimately involved in human life.

1O LORD, you have searched me and known me! 2You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

   you discern my thoughts from afar.

3You search out my path and my lying down

   and are acquainted with all my ways.

4Even before a word is on my tongue,

   behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.

5You hem me in, behind and before,

   and lay your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

   it is high; I cannot attain it.

13For you formed my inward parts;

   you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.

14I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works;

   my soul knows it very well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you,when I was being made in secret,

   intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

16Your eyes saw my unformed substance;in your book were written, every one of them,

   the days that were formed for me,

   when as yet there was none of them.

 17How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!

   How vast is the sum of them!

18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand.

   I awake, and I am still with you.

God is not deistic.  He knows what David is thinking.  He knows what David will say before David says it.  God is behind him and before him.  God was there in the womb, knitting David together.  God literally wrote the book on David.  He is the author of David’s story.  This is a God who is near and deeply involved in David’s life.  He is not deistic.

And in 139:7-12 we hear that God is not domestic but that he lives and dwells everywhere a person might imagine going.

7Where shall I go from your Spirit?

   Or where shall I flee from your presence?

8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!

    If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

9If I take the wings of the morning

   and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

10even there your hand shall lead me,

   and your right hand shall hold me.

11If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,

   and the light about me be night,”

12 even the darkness is not dark to you;

   the night is bright as the day,

   for darkness is as light with you.

God dwells everywhere!  He can be encountered in the high heavens and in the low grave.  He can be interacted with at the furthest edge of the sea.  Even in the darkest places, God dwells.

In other words God is not domestic but is everywhere.  And God is not deistic but is engaged.  God is everywhere.  He may be found wherever we find ourselves.  And God is engaged.  He is not aloof nor unfriendly.  He is engaged in human life and longs for interaction and relationship with us.  God is everywhere and God is engaged.

These two convictions led to the creation of one of the most challenging yet rewarding spiritual habits: Practicing the Presence.  The practice is tied to two men: Brother Lawrence and Frank Laubach.

Brother Lawrence, also known as Nicolas Herman, was born in France in 1611 into poverty.[iv]  He became a Christian in 1629.  In 1666 he entered a religious community of Carmelites in Paris.  There, as a lay brother, he took the name Brother Lawrence.  He served mostly in the kitchen of the community until his death in 1691.  Brother Lawrence is known to us through a few letters and four “conversations” written by others who knew him.

Frank Laubach was born in the United States in 1884.  In the 1930’s, Laubach was a missionary among Muslims in the Philippines.  He wrote over 50 books and was a well-known educator.  He died in 1970.

Both Lawrence and Laubach were dedicated to a habit which became known as “Practicing the Presence of God.”  Through this habit, both attempted to live each moment of each day in awareness of God’s presence and in active engagement with God.  They were both deeply convicted that God is everywhere and God wants to be engaged, so they strove to engage God everywhere and in every moment.

For example, Laubach wrote in his journal on January 3, 1930: “As for me, I resolved that I would succeed better this year with my experiment of filling every minute full of the thoughts of God than I succeeded last year.”[v]  Later that year he wrote that he began by trying to bring God to his mind every half hour or fifteen minutes: “Two years ago a profound distraction led me to begin trying to line up my actions with the will of God about every fifteen minutes or every half hour.  Other people to whom I confessed this intention said it was impossible…It is clear that this is exactly what Jesus was doing all day every year.”[vi]

Laubach would attempt to engage God as he went about his own daily routines: “The thought of God slips out of my sight for I suppose two-thirds of every day, thus far.  This morning I started out fresh, by finding a rich experience of God in the sunrise.  Then I tried to let Him control my hands while I was shaving and dressing and eating breakfast.  Now I am trying to let God control my hands as I pound the typewriter keys.”[vii]

Brother Lawrence counseled, “You need to accustom yourself to continual conversation with Him—a conversation which is free and simple.  We need to recognize that God is always intimately present with us and address Him every moment.” [viii]

Lawrence strove to do this through the day: “I made it my business to be in the Lord’s presence just as much throughout the day as I did when I came to my appointed time of prayer.  I drove anything from my mind that was capable of interrupting my thought of God.  I did this all the time, every hour, every minute, even in the height of my daily business.”[ix]

Admitting that this was difficult, Lawrence advised, “Forget him the very least you can.”[x] 

As both Lawrence and Laubach show, the discipline of Practicing the Presence of God is an attempt to fully embrace the fact that God is everywhere and that God is engaged.  We do not have to be in a certain place, like a chapel or in a church building to interact with God.  And we do not have to worry that God only wants interaction at certain times or with certain people.  God is everywhere and everywhere seeks to engage us.  Practicing the Presence of God is an attempt to stay consciously aware of God as much as possible throughout the day and to interact with God throughout the day.

I have been engaged in this habit for several years and have found it to be immensely rewarding.  In preparation for this lesson tonight, I’ve been tracking my own attempts at Practicing the Presence for the past few days.  My goal has been to consciously bring God to my mind at least once every half hour between 8 AM and 10 PM.  I have a dedicated prayer time prior to 8 AM, so I didn’t track that time.  I wanted to track the times during the day when I wasn’t necessarily in a dedicated prayer time.  To help me keep track of the half-hours between 8 AM and 10 PM when I consciously thought of God and interacted with God, I carried in my pocket several round rubber tips which I scavenged from our garage (they are the kind of tips that go on the sharp ends of self-installed closet shelving).  Each half hour when I remembered God or interacted with God, I would take one rubber tip from my right pocket and put it in the left pocket.  After 10 PM, I’d count how many rubber tips I had in my left pocket.  That was the number of half-hours I had Practiced the Presence of God successfully.  There are 30 half-hours between and 8 AM and 10 PM.  If was successful, I would have 30 rubber tips in my left pocket by 10 PM.  Here’s how I did:

I found that Sundays are often the most difficult day for me to do this.  This is my heaviest work day and I find myself distracted and very busy.  It is ironic that on a day dedicated to the Lord, I find it most difficult to keep God at the forefront of my mind. 

On other days, the practice was easier.  Overall, I felt a great sense of peace and purpose as I practiced the presence over the past few days.  Even in times of sin, I would practice the presence and God’s grace and mercy would wash over me.  In times of stress and strain, God’s presence was clear and I found rest and perspective again.

How do we Practice the Presence?  Frank Laubauch offers these suggestions:[xi]

1. 1.       “Select a favorable hour, an easy, uncomplicated hour.  See how many minutes of the hour you can remember, or touch, Christ at least once a minute; that is to say, bring Him to mind at least one second out of every sixty.”
2. 2.      “Keep humming to yourself (inaudibly) a favorite hymn—For example, ‘Have Thine Own Way, Lord, Have Thine Own Way.’”
3. 3.      “When reading, keep a running conversation with Him about the pages you are reading.”
4. 4.      [When considering some problem] “Instead of talking to yourself, form the habit of talking to Christ.”
5. 5.      “Make sure that your last thoughts are of Christ as you are falling asleep at night.”
6. 6.      “On waking in the morning, you may ask, ‘Now, Lord, shall we get up?’  Some of us whisper to Him in our every thought about washing and dressing in the morning.”
7. 7.      “We need the stimulus of believers who pursue what we pursue, the presence of Christ.”

Adele Calhoun offers these additional helps:[xii]

1. With each task during the day, talk to God about the task before you begin and when you are finished.
2. Set an alarm for several times throughout the day.  At each alarm stop and pray.

10.  Memorize a short verse or short prayer and repeat it throughout the day.

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[2] D. A. Carson, “Athens Revisited,” in Telling the Truth, edited by D. A. Carson (Zondervan, 2000), 386-389.

^[iii] Willmington, H. L. (1999). The Outline Bible (Ps 139:1–18). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers.

[iv] Brother Lawrence & Frank Laubach, Practicing  the Presence The Library of Spiritual Classics: Volume 1 (Seed Sowers, 1973).

[v] Ibid., 2.

[vi] Ibid.

[vii] Ibid., 14.

[viii] Ibid., 55.

[ix] Ibid., 60.

[x] Ibid., 91.

[xi] Ibid., 31-35.

[xii] Calhoun, 61.

“My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me…”  

These lines reveal something about Jesus and Jesus’ prayer which are transforming.  When it comes to these lines I frequently imagine that they pour forth from a Jesus who is solemn and calm.  I imagine that these words come from a Jesus who’s really already decided “your will be done” but who quietly and casually offers “let this cup pass from me” just to see what might happen. 

This is not, however, the Jesus who prays this line.  Notice the descriptions from Matthew:

• Jesus is “sorrowful and troubled” (Matt. 26:37)
• Jesus confesses being “very sorrowful, even to death” (Matt. 26:38)
• Jesus falls on his face—a posture of great desperation (Matt. 26:39)
• Jesus prays these lines three times—a mark of intense passion and emotion (Matt. 26:44).

Matthew’s writing peers agree with his assessment.  Mark describes Jesus as “greatly distressed” (Mk. 14:33).  Luke, the doctor, diagnoses Jesus as “being in agony” and observes that Jesus’ “sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” (Lk. 22:44).

There is nothing calm or peaceful about this scene.  Just as the very word “Gethsemane” suggests a “wine press” where olives were squeezed until their insides turned outside, so Jesus is  now being squeezed in ways that make him feel he as if he is being turned inside out.

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Introduction

Mark Thibodeaux suggests there are four kinds of prayer.[1]  He illustrates each kind through a story about himself and his Aunt Sally.

First, there is “Talking at God.”  When Thibodeaux was four years old, his Aunt Sally came to visit.  Tongue tied, Thibodeaux didn’t know what to say to her.  His mother said, “Say ‘Hello Aunt Sally.’”; “Tell Aunt Sally how old you are.”; “Say, ‘I’m four years old.’”  Thibodeaux’s mother gave him the words to say.  Some prayer is like this.  We invite someone else to give us the words we need to speak to God.  We use someone else’s prayer for our own prayer.  This is similar to our use of pre-written wedding vows or popular love songs—we use someone else’s words to say what we want to say but aren’t sure how to say.  Thibodeaux calls these “ready-made prayers.”   

Second, there is “Talking to God.”  When Thibodeaux was elementary aged, his Aunt Sally came for another visit.  Thibodeaux told her all about a picture he had just finished drawing.  This time, he didn’t need prompting from Mom.  He just spontaneously spoke whatever came to mind.  Some prayer is like this.  It is spontaneous.  We tell God whatever comes to mind.  This is the most common kind of prayer.

Third, there is “Listening to God.”  When Thibodeaux was thirteen years old, Aunt Sally moved in with his family.  She was too old to continue living by herself.  On many occasions Thibodeaux would just listen as Aunt Sally told him stories about her life.  Some prayer is like this.  We sit in solitude and strive to listen as God speaks. 

Finally, there is “Being with God.”  When Thibodeaux was in college, Aunty Sally was old and frail.  He spent long periods with her in silence, neither one speaking, but both enjoying just being with one another.  Some prayer is like this.  The focus is not on speaking or listening but on simply being with God and resting in his presence.

Thibodeaux believes many of us only experience only one of these four kinds of prayer: “Talking to God.”  To grow in prayer he urges us to experience the other kinds of prayer.  Prayer as “Being with God” and as “Listening to God” require learning some additional prayer-skills.  But prayer as “Talking at God” is something many of us can do immediately without learning any additional prayer-skills.  Through the use of ready-made prayers we can allow the words of others to help us grow in prayer.

One particular form of ready-made prayers is praying Scripture.  Adele Calhoun writes that “In the early centuries of the church, believers were taught to pray the Scriptures.  Since the Bible is divinely inspired, they believed that praying Scripture deeply connected them to the mind and heart of God.  Furthermore, as Scripture was repeatedly prayed, it became memorized.  This was a wonderful benefit for those who were illiterate.  It also meant that memorized Scripture could lead them to pray at any hour of the day or night.”[2]

Praying Scripture, however, is not as common in the contemporary church as it was in the ancient church.  Yet it remains a powerful way of praying.  It can lead us to pray in ways we’ve never before prayed.  This experience may be just what we need to bring freshness and newness back into our spiritual lives.

There are at least five parts of Scripture we might consider utilizing as in our prayers.

Praying the Psalms

The Psalms are the original ready-made prayers.  They are prayers and songs written by others and used in prayer and worship by the people of God around the world.  The Psalms fall into three kinds: Orientation, Disorientation and Reorientation. [3]  

In psalms of orientation God is viewed as trustworthy and reliable.  Life is happy and the one praying is grateful for the stability and predictability of life.  These psalms provide opportunities to pray about some of the most basic things of life which are responsible for the pleasantness of life.  Examples include Ps. 19, 104, and 119.

Like psalms of orientation, psalms of reorientation are also prayers of praise and thanksgiving.  But rather than focus on the basic stability and dependability of the life which God has created, reorientation prayers rejoice for some recent way in which God has delivered the author from despair or danger.  They offer praise at its highest and loudest.  Examples include Ps. 16, 23, 100, and 150.

But psalms of disorientation stand in stark contrast to the other two.  These are prayers gasped and groaned when life is at its worst.  In them, God does not seem dependable or desirable.  Those who are praying lament their situation in life and beg God for a change in their circumstances.  These are the most disturbing prayers in the Old Testament.  They include Ps. 13, 51, and 69.

I’ve found it helpful to reclassify these Old Testament prayers as prayers of the plain (orientation), prayers of the peak (reorientation), and prayers of the pit (disorientation).

• Prayers of the plain are those psalms in which life is ordinary and routine and we thank God for the basic things of life that make life so good. 
• Prayers of the peak are those psalms in which life is unusually good and we thank God for a specific way in which he has been active in our lives.   
• But prayers of the pit are those psalms in which life is hard and horrible and we give voice to our harshest feelings.  They are the prayers which are colored primarily by challenge and suffering in life.

Each kind of Psalm stretches us to go beyond what we normally experience in prayer.

1. They stretch us to pray about issues we may generally overlook, as in Orientation Psalms/Plain Psalms which prompt us to pray thankfully for the creation and for the Scriptures—things we tend to take for granted.
2. They stretch us to grieve in ways we may have never done before in prayer, as in Disorientation Psalms/Pit Psalms which lead us to lament in bold ways.
3. They stretch us to praise in ways we may have never done before in prayer, as in Reorientation Psalms/Peak Psalms which lead us to use language of praise and rejoicing that we may not be used to in our prayers.

One way to refresh your prayer life is to pray at least one Psalm each day.  You can pray many of them verbatim.  Others will require some word changes.  I’ve rewritten all 150 Psalms in my own words in a series of prayer on my website (www.chrisaltrock.com).  You might find those helpful to pray through as well.  Below is a list of the Psalms, their general characterization (O = Orientation; D = Disorientation; R = Reorientation), and their specific focus.  Use this to guide you as you pray at least one Psalm each day.

1          O         Word  

2          D          Complaint–I (Royal)

3          D          Imprecatory

4          D          Complaint-I

5          D          Imprecatory

6          D          Confession

7          D          Imprecatory    

8          O         Creation

9          D          Complaint-I

10        D          Imprecatory

11        R          Thanksgiving-Confidence-I

12        D          Imprecatory

13        D          Complaint-I

14        O         Wisdom

15        O         Word

16        R          Thanksgiving-Confidence-I

17        D          Imprecatory

18        R          Thanksgiving-I

19        O         Word

20        R          Praise-Royal

21        R          Praise-Royal

22        D          Complaint-I

23        R          Thanksgiving-I

24        O         Word

25        D          Complaint-I

26        D          Complaint-I

27        R          Thanksgiving-Confidence-I

28        D          Imprecatory

29        R          Praise-Royal

30        R          Thanksgiving-I

31        D          Complaint-I

32        D          Confess

33        O         Creation

34        R          Thanksgiving-I

35        D          Imprecatory

36        D          Complaint-I

37        O         Wisdom

38        D          Confess

39        D          Complaint-I

40        D          Complaint-I

41        D          Complaint-I

42        D          Complaint-I

43        D          Complaint-I

44        D          Complaint-We

45        R          Praise-Royal

46        R          Thanksgiving-Confidence-We

47        R          Praise-Royal   

48        R          Zion

49        O         Wisdom

50        D          Complaint-I (God)

51        D          Confess

52        D          Complaint-I

53        D          Complaint-I

54        D          Imprecatory

55        D          Imprecatory

56        D          Complaint-I    

57        D          Complaint-I    

58        D          Imprecatory    

59        D          Imprecatory    

60        D          Complaint-We

61        D          Complaint-I    

62        R          Thanksgiving-Confidence-I

63        R          Thanksgiving-Confidence-I    

64        D          Complaint-I    

65        R          Thanksgiving-We       

66        R          Thanksgiving-We       

67        R          Thanksgiving-We       

68        R          Praise-Hymn   

69        D          Imprecatory    

70        D          Complaint-I    

71        D          Complaint-I    

72        R          Praise-Royal   

73        D          Complaint-I    

74        D          Imprecatory    

75        R          Thanksgiving-We       

76        R          Zion    

77        D          Complaint-I    

78        O         History

79        D          Imprecatory

80        D          Complaint-We

81        D          Complaint-I (God)      

82        D          Imprecatory    

83        D          Imprecatory    

84        R          Zion    

85        D          Complaint-We

86        D          Complaint-I    

87        R          Zion    

88        D          Complaint-I    

89        D          Complaint-I (Royal)    

90        D          Complaint-We

91        R          Thanksgiving-Confidence-I    

92        R          Thanksgiving-I

93        R          Praise-Royal   

94        D          Imprecatory

95        R          Praise-Royal

96        R          Praise-Royal

97        R          Praise-Royal

98        R          Praise-Royal

99        R          Praise-Royal

100      R          Praise-Hymn

101      R          Praise-Royal

102      D          Confess          

103      R          Praise-Hymn

104      O         Creation         

150      R          Praise-Hymn

105      O         History

106      O         History

107      R          Thanksgiving-We                               

108      D          Complaint-We

109      D          Imprecatory    

110      R          Praise-Royal   

111      R          Praise-Hymn

112      O         Wisdom          

113      R          Praise-Hymn

114      R          Praise-Royal   

115      R          Thanksgiving-Confidence-We            

116      R          Thanksgiving-I

117      R          Praise-Hymn

118      R          Thanksgiving-I

119      O         Word              

120      D          Complaint-I    

121      R          Thanksgiving-Confidence-I

122      R          Zion                

123      D          Complaint-We

124      R          Thanksgiving-We                               

125      R          Thanksgiving-Confidence-We

126      D          Complaint-We

127      O         Wisdom          

128      O         Wisdom          

129      D          Imprecatory    

130      D          Confess          

131      R          Thanksgiving-I

132      R          Praise-Royal   

133      O         Wisdom

134      R          Praise-Hymn

135      O         History

136      O         History

137      D          Imprecatory    

138      R          Thanksgiving-I

139      D          Complaint-I

140      D          Imprecatory

141      D          Complaint-I    

142      D          Complaint-I    

143      D          Confess          

144      R          Praise-Royal

145      O         Creation         

146      R          Praise-Hymn

147      R          Praise-Hymn

148      R          Praise-Hymn

149      R          Praise-Hymn

150      R          Praise-Hymn

Praying the Prayers of Jesus

Of the twenty-nine references in the Gospels to the prayer-life and prayer-words of Jesus, approximately nineteen of these are general in nature.  They simply tell us that Jesus prayed.  They do not describe in detail what Jesus prayed.  Yet there are at least ten occasions on which the Gospel authors record the actual words Jesus spoke in prayer.  Without a doubt these must be the most important prayers in Scripture. 

You can refresh your prayer life by praying one or more of these prayers each day:

1.  21 In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.” (Luke 10:21 ESV) (Matt. 11:25-26)
2. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” (John 11:41-43 ESV).
3. 23And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. 27″Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” (John 12:23-29 ESV).
4. 1When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.  6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 12While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19And for their sake  I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. 20“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:1-26 ESV).
5. 36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” 37And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” 39And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” 40And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. 45Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.” (Matt. 26:36-46 ESV) (Luke 22:39-46; Mk. 14:32-42)
6. 32 Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 33And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Lk. 23:32-34 ESV).
7. 33And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 35And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” 36And someone ran and filled a sponge with  sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” 37And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. (Mk. 15:33-37 ESV) (Matt. 27:45-50)
8. 28After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now  finished, said ( to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” 29A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. (Jn. 19:28-29 ESV).
9. 44 It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. (Lk. 23:44-46 ESV).
10. 30When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (Jn. 19:30 ESV).

Praying the Sermon on the Mount

The Sermon on the Mount contains some of the most powerful and challenging teaching ever to come from the lips of Jesus.  It is the ultimate picture of what life could look like if God’s kingdom came on earth as in heaven.  Below, I’ve taken the major thoughts of the Sermon on the Mount and turned them into prayers. 

One way to refresh your prayer life is to pray part or all of these prayers each day:

• Enable me, God, to be poor in spirit, mournful, meek, and hungry for righteousness.

• Empower me, Jesus, to be merciful, pure, peaceful, and willing to suffer for what is right.

• Energize me, Spirit, that I might do the good deeds that act as salt and light.

• Father, in my relationship with others make me the one who does not harbor anger but seeks reconciliation, pays any price to think and act without lust, does not divorce but is faithful, does not deceive but lets my ‘yes’ mean ‘yes,’ and does not respond to evil with violence but with love.

• Son, in my relationship with you assist me that I might give to the poor, pray, and fast for your sake and not mine; and that I might pray for your kingdom to come instead of for my will to be done.

• Counselor, in my relationship with money help me to not be miserly and serve money but to be generous and serve God; help me not worry but trust in the caring provision and kingdom purpose of God.

• May I pursue the strengthening of my own weaknesses rather than pointing out the weaknesses of others.

• May I trust in a God who knows how to give good gifts.

• May I do to others what I would have them do to me.

• Let my path not be the crowded one but the little-traveled one.

• Let me not listen to others because of the fruit on their resumes but because of the fruit in their character.

• Let me not aspire to the claim of sensational spirituality but to the claim of simple obedience.

• Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, transform me so that I do not merely listen to these words but do live them out.

Praying the Lord’s Prayer 

The Lord’s Prayer is the supreme example from Jesus regarding what and how to pray.  New life can pour into our prayers as we pray this prayer daily or at least weekly:

“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 lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.”

(Matt. 6:9-13 ESV)                  

Praying Paul’s Prayers 

Many of Paul’s letters include rich and rewarding prayers Paul uttered for his readers.  By praying these prayers daily or weekly, we learn a new language and direction for prayer:

• 9And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. (Phil. 1:9-11 ESV)

• 16I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. (Eph. 1:16-21 ESV)

• 14For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Eph. 3:14-18 ESV)

• 9And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. 11 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. (Col. 1:9-12 ESV).

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[2] Adele Calhoun Spiritual Disciplines Handbook (IVP Books, 2005), 246.

[3] Walter Brueggemann The Message of the Psalms (Augsburg, 1984); Spirituality of the Psalms (Fortress, 2002).

Craig Keener writes about the prayer of Jesus in Gethsemane.  He suggests that he prayer must be considered authentic because it meets “the authentic criterion of embarrassment”—that is, no Christian author would make up this prayer-account because it potentially brings embarrassment upon the Christian faith.  The portrait of Jesus facing death in despair is vastly different from pagan “heroes” like Socrates or Jewish heroes like the Maccabean martyrs who faced death calmly.[i]  But what a comfort this portrait is–it invites us to voice our own despair to God in times of pain and grief.

36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” 37And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” 39And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” 40And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. 45Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.” (Matt. 26:36-46 ESV)

Richard Beck writes about two ways of viewing lament in the Christian faith: Specifically, when people examine the faith/lament relationship they tend to work with a polar model with faith and lament placed on two ends of a continuum. That is, as faith increases lament/anger/complaint toward God is believed to decrease. In this view, faith is the absence of doubt or complaint. Conversely, as doubt, lament, anger, and complaint increase faith is believed to decrease. These experiences are symptoms of a failure or lack of faith.  In a variety of articles I’ve argued that social scientists (and churches) need to replace the polar model of lament/faith with a circumplex model where faith and lament are seen as separate, orthogonal dimensions. In this model I’ve labeled the vertical dimension “communion,” as it reflects engagement with God. The horizontal dimension is labeled “complaint” as it captures the experience of doubt, lament, anger and disappointment with God…The value of the circumplex model is that it allows communion with God to exist independently of lament. That is, one can be passionately engaged with God (i.e., have “faith”) while being in the middle of spiritual distress and turmoil. Complaint doesn’t imply a lack of faith.

Beck’s diagram helps us make sense of the sometimes shocking lament we read in the Psalms and in the prayers of Jesus.  It suggests that we actually become more faithful, more Christian, as we learn to lament appropropriately.