The Heirloom of Prayer

During her sunset years of life, Kendra’s grandmother hand-stitched several colorful quilts for Kendra.  They are some of our favorite heirlooms—especially the double wedding band quilt.  The blankets remind us of Memaw’s generous love, fun-loving spirit and quirky personality.  I think of her every time we pull a quilt out of our hallway closet.

Perhaps you have an heirloom from a much-loved-one.  A family piano.  A treasured set of crystal.  A piece of framed art.  These items reflect that individual’s kindness and care.  They tell us something about the heart of that person.

Leaving an inheritance is a common practice.  We’ve come to expect it from those who are important to us.  But what about the One who is most important?  Did Jesus leave an heirloom?  If so, what was it?  What gift did Jesus bequeath to those who lived after he left?  If Jesus had written a will, what legacy would he have listed on its pages?

Perhaps with such questions in mind, George Buttrick writes this: “Two signs of Jesus abide, though all else be ignored or forgotten—a prayer and a cross…These are His memorial: not a tombstone or a moneyed foundation, but a simple prayer and a gallows set against the daybreak.”[i]

You may not be surprised to find the cross listed on Jesus’ Last Will and Testament.  Almost universally, when people think of the Christ they think of the cross.  The worldwide symbol of Jesus’ contribution to humanity is his cross.  The world-changing summary of Jesus’ challenge to humanity is his cross.  He died so we might live.  We die so that others might live.

But you may be surprised by the mention of a prayer.  A prayer is listed among his most prized possessions?  Buttrick is referring to a specific prayer—what we call “The Lord’s Prayer.”  Besides the cross, what captures the heart of Jesus is the heirloom bequeathed to us in his Lord’s Prayer.  As Jesus sought some way to pass down what most mattered to him, he chose to grant us the inheritance of Calvary’s cross and the Lord’s Prayer.  William Willimon and Stanley Hauerwas write, “So if you are asked, ‘Who is a Christian?’ the best answer you can give is, ‘A Christian is none other than someone who has learned to pray the Lord’s Prayer.’”[ii]  To be a Christian is to pray Jesus’ prayer.

What’s so valuable about this prayer?  Consider its wonderful words:

⁹  Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
¹⁰ Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread,
¹² and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. (Matt. 6:9-13 ESV)

The prayer, as Frederick Buechner writes, focuses primarily on God’s omnipotence and our impotence.  It is rooted in the belief that God can still do anything and that we still can’t do much of anything.  It is the ultimate declaration of dependence.  It puts God in his place.  It puts us in our place:

“We do well not to prayer the prayer lightly.  It takes guts to pray it at all…’Thy will be done’ is what we are saying.  That is the climax of the first half of the prayer.  We are asking God to be God.  We are asking God to do not what we want but what God wants…To speak those words is to invite the tiger out of the cage, to unleash a power that makes atomic power look like a warm breeze.  You need to be bold in another way to speak the second half.  Give us.  Forgive us.  Don’t test us.  Deliver us.  If it takes guts to face the omnipotence that is God’s, it takes perhaps not less to face the impotence that is ours.  We can do nothing without God.  Without God we are nothing.”[iii]

The prayer puts God in his place and us in ours.  It invites the tiger out of the cage.  Authors Mike Breem and Steve Cockram propose that everything Jesus taught about life in the kingdom of God is summarized in this brief prayer.  True discipleship comes only as we learn to pray this prayer.[iv]

The cross and this prayer.  These are Jesus’ greatest gifts.  In them we find all that is needed for a life of following in his footsteps.

I once served as an apprentice at a congregation close to the graduate school I was attending.  One summer the leaders of the congregation planned a road trip to a popular leadership seminar offered by a large church.  I wanted to go but did not have the funds.  My wife and I were literally pouring every cent into my studies.  But days before the event, my supervisor at the congregation informed me that someone had paid for me to go.  All costs were covered.  And, he said, the donor wished to remain anonymous.  I was overjoyed.  The trip and seminar were refreshing and paradigm-shaping.  I still feel the influence of that event.  And it was possible only because of an act of “secret service.”

Mark Buchanan writes about the importance of secrecy in our acts of service:

“We want to be either heroes or martyrs.  Our acts of service tend to rise from the yearning to be one or the other.  We want to be either carried on the crowd’s shoulders or trampled  beneath the mob’s feet…emblazon my name on the marquee or set me ablaze at the stake…Make me a hero or make me a martyr…[But] God invites us, Christlike, to become servants.  That means we’ll do many of our acts of service in secret.  We’ll do them regardless of whether we’re thanked or applauded.  We’ll do them not seeking persecution, but not avoiding it either.”[1]

A problem for many of us is that we want to do acts of service so striking that we are hailed as heroes.  Or we wish to do acts of service so sacrificial that we are memorialized as martyrs.  But some of the most impactful ways of serving are not-so-striking and not-so-sacrificial.  One of the most transformative habits to cultivate is that of serving others in ways that are routine, quiet and anonymous.  Secret service doesn’t necessarily make us heroes, because it isn’t noteworthy enough to make the news.  And, it doesn’t necessarily make us martyrs, because it isn’t valuable enough to go viral.  Instead, it simply makes us Christlike.

Secret service has transformative power because it runs so contrary to our fleshly desires.  Richard Foster writes,

“Of all the classical Spiritual Disciplines, service is the most conducive to the growth of humility…Nothing disciplines the inordinate desires of the flesh like service, and nothing transforms the desires of the flesh like serving in hiddenness.  The flesh whines against service but screams against hidden service.”[2]

The flesh gripes against service.  But it groans against secret service.  The more we practice hidden acts of kindness for others, the more our flesh kicks and screams.  It craves the attention and applause which can only come from public and advertised service.  Most of us want to serve, as long as we get a mention on the ten o’clock news for our service.  But when service is hidden and secret, it forms us into people who look and love more like Jesus.

Secret service is, in the words of Dallas Willard, and act of trust:

“Few things are more important in stabilizing our walk of faith than [secrecy].  In the practice of secrecy, we experience a continuing relationship with God independent of the opinions of others…Secrecy rightly practiced enables us to place our public relations department entirely in the hands of God…”[3]

Many of us have our own private PR department.  We use it to promote a good image of ourselves among others.  And some of the greatest branding tools our PR department has are our acts of service.  Everyone loves a servant.  Thus we are tempted to plaster our compassionate conduct on billboards for all to see.  Yet, when we serve secretly and anonymously, we spin off our PR department and place it in the hands of God.  He alone takes over all branding decisions.  We are free to focus solely on serving.

This, of course, is not easy to do.  James Bryan Smith suggests that many of us live by the following narrative or story: “My value is determined by your assessment.” [4] We hunger for affirmation and attention from others because it establishes our value.  We believe there is no other way to determine our value other than what people say about us.  Thus we serve—but we serve in ways that bring attention to ourselves.  What is needed, Smith writes, is a new narrative.  Something like this: “My value is determined by God’s assessment.”  Because God’s view of me is the only one that matters, I can now live for an audience of one.  My worth is not dependent on what others think of me.  Thus I am free now to serve, and to serve secretly.

Take Ten

Take ten minutes to perform an act of secret service today.  Serve in a way that allows you to remain anonymous.  Tell no one about the act, not even the one whom you are serving.  Ask God to use this service not only to bless the recipient, but to change you, the giver.

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[2] Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline Revised and Expanded (Harper & Row, 1978), 130.

[3] Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines (HarperSanFrancisco, 1988), 172-173.

[4] James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful Character.

Wordless Prayer

The Book of Psalms unleashes a literal revolution when it comes to prayer.  It turns our idea about prayer on its head.  Rather than prayer consisting of us actively asking and God passively receiving our request, the psalter also imagines prayer as us resting passively while God takes the active role.  Instead of prayer being chatty, Psalms envisions prayer being silent.

Specifically, in contrast to the asking and talking that characterizes so much of our prayer lives, the psalter presents prayer as wordless:

• 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.

Notice the impact of this wordless prayer.  It conquers sinful anger (Ps. 4:4).  It brings peace and contentment (Ps. 23:2).  It frees us from having to be in control (Ps. 37:7).  It creates an environment in which we experience the presence and sovereignty of God (Ps. 46:10).  It enables us to see and sense God’s salvation (Ps. 62:1,5).  It empowers us to find fulfillment completely in God (Ps. 131:1,2).

What might it be like to begin practicing a type of prayer that uses no words at all?

Waiting Prayer

But there’s even more to this upside-down prayer-paradigm.  Not only does the book of Psalms contrast our chatty prayers with wordless prayers.  It also contrasts our often obsessive activity in prayer with a surprising passivity.  In the psalter prayer is not only wordless in nature, but waiting in nature:

• 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.

Waiting is counter-intuitive.  Many of us still operate on a “don’t-just-stand-there-do-something” mentality.  Waiting is too dependent for us independent people.  Yet notice the fruits of waiting.  Courage comes as we wait (Ps. 27:14).  God answers as we wait (Ps. 38:15).  Hope arrives as we wait (Ps. 39:7).  Prayer for these ancient masters was not only wordless but waiting.

In fact, twice a psalmist ties waiting and wordless 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.

What might prayer be like if you did more waiting and less acting?

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The small group which my family and I attend once discussed the prayer-life of Jesus.  After a convicting conversation, several of us confessed a desire to spend more time in prayer—to prioritize prayer like Jesus.  Then one group member wondered aloud: “I want to pray more.  But honestly, I don’t know how I’d fill the time.  I’m not sure what else I could say.  I usually get through my prayer list in a matter of minutes.  I’d quickly run out of things to pray.”  Like many of us, she wished for longer periods of prayer.  But, like many of us, she questioned how she’d use the time if she actually had it.

This dilemma is the result of a particular view of prayer.  One perspective sees prayer primarily as active asking. Prayer, for many, is an active, not passive, experience.  We are physically active: our hands fold, our head bows, our knees bend, our mouth opens and our tongue moves.  We are also mentally active: we scan over make supplication regarding a list of needs, requests, issues, and topics.  It is difficult for us to envision any model of prayer besides that in which we are the active participant and God is the passive recipient.

Thus, when it comes to increasing the amount of time in prayer, we can only imagine increasing the amount of activity in prayer.  We’ll need to find more things to request, more people to intercede for, more topics of conversation to process, and more issues requiring God’s divine devotion.

There are some positive points to this paradigm.  For example, a swift scan of the prayers in Psalms, the prayers of Jesus, and the prayers of Paul reveals a plethora of pleas which they regularly prayed but which we rarely pray.  It would be a life-shaping (and world-changing) experience to fill greater time praying over the things which concerned these masters of prayer.  Hours could be added to our times with God if we simply started praying over lists like the ones found in Scripture.

Yet prayer has another side.  God did not envision prayer solely as us actively asking and Him passively receiving.  God imagined the flipside of this paradigm.  There is a way to approach prayer in which God is active and we are passive (to be continued)…

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God’s word, when heard, becomes a transformative power within us.  Mark Buchanan explains: “If this stuff gets in you, down in your guts, it is going to shape you in ways beyond your asking or imagination.”[i] The more we heed God’s voice in Scripture, the more it gets down in our guts and shapes us in ways beyond our imagination.

I’ve seen this stuff at work.  My friends Nathan and Karen were teachers in local Memphis public schools.  They were also voracious consumers of Scripture and intent on listening to God.  One day they asked to meet with the staff and elders of our congregation.  With great courage and conviction they announced “We believe God has called us to move to the Philippines to become missionaries.”  Nathan’s mother and father had been laboring for decades in the Philippines starting churches and establishing a highly respected school in the city of Bacolod.  Nathan and Karen discerned that God wanted them to pack up their home, their two boys, and move thousands of miles to partner with the older Luthers in this work.  As we prayed about it, we reached the same conclusion.  We sent Nathan and Karen to get additional training and then watched them fly away to a completely different life.  I recently returned from visiting them and their work in the Philippines.  Churches were thriving.  Their school was overflowing.  Life after life was changing.  How did this all happen?  I believe it started when that word got down inside Nathan and Karen and shaped them beyond their asking or imagination.  Because they heard (and heeded) they, and the lives of many others, were forever changed.

Jesus affirms the power of the Word in his Sermon on the Mount.  As a concluding exhortation, Jesus describes what happens to the person “who hears these words of mine and does them” (Jesus believes real hearing always leads to heeding) (Matt. 7:24 ESV).  That person is changed into something akin to a house resting on a solid foundation that cannot be shaken despite the strongest storms (Matt. 7:24-25).  Today you may feel like a shack likely to fall at the first sign of showers.  You may see yourself as a hut about to collapse from a single clap of thunder.  But if you learn to listen to Jesus, you will be transformed into a solidly constructed and firmly founded home that remains immovable and impenetrable even in the wildest weather.

Lectio Divina

Lectio Divina is the ancient method of hearing the renovating and revolutionary word of God.  It is a method for gaining our lost ears so we may once again listen to the ever-speaking Father, Son and Spirit.

First, choose a brief text of Scripture and read it.  Read as if you are reading a letter from someone you deeply love.  Read as if you are reading these words for the very first time.  As you read, ask, “God, what do you wish to say to me today?”  Listen for a word or phrase that seems to get stuck in your mind or impressed on your heart.

Second, begin to reflect on that word or phrase.  Repeat it.  Write it down.  Draw something which represents it.  Interrogate it: “What’s going on in my life that would cause this word to stick out today?  What sin am I wrestling with that this word addresses?  What blindspot to I possess which this word illuminates?  What comfort and I seeking or courage am I needing that this word brings?  What is it about who I am right now that needs this word?

Third, respond to God in prayer based on what you’ve heard.  Give a shout of praise.  Kneel in humble repentance.  Thank Him for the insight.  Ask him further questions.

Finally, rest in the presence of God.  Spend a few moments in quiet and calming silence with the Father who’s shared so intimately with you today.

Take Ten

Set aside just ten minutes today to experience this powerful practice.  Don’t put it off.  Do it right now if you can.  Listen carefully.  Let that word get down inside of you and change you in ways you never even dreamed of.

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Longing to Listen

A former member of our congregation stopped by our church office recently.  “What’s going on?” I asked her.  “Well,” she said, “I finally retired.  But now I’m not sure what to do.  I guess I’m in a season of discernment.  I’m trying to listen to God and discover what he wants me to do next.”

In some ways, her description of her life-stage fits many of us.  For those who are truly seeking a more significant spiritual life, listening seems to be the one commonality.  We’re listening for God’s guidance in our work.  We’re listening for God’s leadership in our relationships.  We’re listening for God’s direction in major decisions.  We’re listening for God’s answers to circumstances that puzzle us.  For more and more of us, life with Jesus is a life of listening.

In his book The Power of a Whisper Bill Hybels focuses on about twenty individuals in the Bible who heard God in a distinct way.[i] These include Adam and Eve, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Balaam, Joshua, Samuel, Job, Zechariah, Joseph, Mary, Jesus, Philip, Peter, and Paul.  Each was blessed with direct interaction with and instruction from God.  Each heard from the Lord.  Many of us long for this very thing.  We hunger for a fresh and living word from the One who made us and loves us.

Hearing by Reading

Thankfully, this craving can be satisfied through the meditative reading of Scripture.  Marjorie Thompson calls this “spiritual reading”:

“Spiritual reading is reflective and prayerful.  It is concerned not with speed or volume but with depth and receptivity.  That is because the purpose of spiritual reading is to open ourselves to how God may be speaking to us in and through any particular text.  The manner of spiritual reading is like drinking in the words of a love letter or pondering the meaning of a poem.  It is not like skittering over the surface of a popular magazine or plowing through a computer manual.  We are seeking not merely information but formation.”[ii]

The meditative reading of Scripture is one of the most promising ways to perceive the hushed voice of God.  It is based on a singular conviction: God still speaks.  He is not mute.  He not silent.  God has not lost his voice.  We have lost our ears.  Just as he did to Adam, Moses, and Mary, so God still addresses any person who humbly seeks an audience with him in the pages of his word.  He may express himself in many other ways.  But most certainly does so through the words of the Bible.

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[ii]Marjorie Thompson, Soul Feast (Westminster John Knox, 1985), 18 (emphasis added).

Our Hearing Problem

Our fourth-grader recently inquired, “Why did you and Mom discipline me so much when I was younger?”  Don’t worry.  We weren’t abusive parents.  And Jacob wasn’t a trouble child.  It’s just that, in comparison to his older sister, Jacob required a little more “motivation” early on in order to get him to stop bad behaviors and start desired deeds.  We could unintentionally break his sister’s heart with a firm “No!”  But it took an earthquake to even get Jacob’s attention.

One of Jacob’s chief challenges was listening.  Without any doubt, his ears performed perfectly.  When we asked him to do something (e.g., “Jacob, please make your bed”; “Jacob, please quit bouncing that ball in the house”) the sound-waves of our words played their intended tune on his ear drums.  They bounced their way into his brain.  In spite of this, that bed remained unmade.  That ball kept bouncing.

Jacob heard us.  But he didn’t really hear us.

This, it appears, is not only a common struggle for spirited elementary-aged boys.  It is also one of the most common struggles for those of us desiring deeper spiritual lives.  In her book When the Soul Listens, Jan Johnson surveys situations in Scripture when certain people were praised and other characters were condemned.  And the primary thing separating those commended from those critiqued was their ability or willingness to hear God.^[1] For example, God scolded Israel in Is. 42:20 – “He sees many things, but does not observe them; his ears are open, but he does not hear.”   Jesus repeatedly invited “If anyone has ears, let him hear” (e.g., Mk. 4).  The Bible is filled with appeals to hear God and admonitions against not hearing God.  It’s not that people are physically deaf and they are being invited to receive auditory healing.  Their ears perform perfectly.  When God speaks or writes his words wind up in their brains.

They hear God.  But they don’t really hear God.

Jesus diagnoses his audience in his Sermon on the Mount with this very problem.  Repeatedly, Jesus says, “You have heard…but I say to you” (e.g., Matt. 5:21-22; 27-28; 31-32).  In many of these cases, Jesus is referring to a specific Scripture which his listeners knew well.  They had read this particular Scripture.  Studied it.  Dissected it.  Memorized it.  Quoted it.  But they hadn’t really heard it.  They understood the letter of the law.  But they remained deaf to the spirit of the law.  What Jesus attempts to do in his Sermon on the Mount is get us to hear God once more.  Really hear.

Hearing God Through Lectio Divina

Thankfully, there is an ancient method which can empower us to do this very thing.  The early Christians discovered a way to listen closely to God.  They believed Scripture was not merely a record of what God had once said.  They trusted it was also the record of what God was now saying.  To them the Bible was not a dusty diary of words God spoke to other people in past times.  It was a living log of words God was speaking to them at the present time.  And one specific approach enabled them to hear God through the text.  The practice is called lectio divina (pronounced lex-ee-o dih-vee-nah).  The phrase literally means holy or sacred reading.

While its roots run deep in both Old and New Testaments,[2] lectio divina was popularized by a man named Saint Benedict (ca 480-550).^[3] While attending school in Rome, Benedict became appalled at the sin running rampant throughout the ancient city.  He determined to create an opportunity for people to experience a different life–an existence free from the epidemic of evil and filled with the countermeasure of consecration.  Benedict retreated to a village, attracted bands of people dissatisfied with their spiritual status quo, organized them into monasteries and created a guide for their living called The Rule of St. Benedict (published ca 540).  This guide spelled out the three primary activities through which people could enter into a life of sanctity and piety: prayer, work, and lectio divina.  Benedict believed that one of the most fundamental ways to lead people into the deeper life of the Spirit was guide them into a consistent practice of lectio divina.  Why?  Because it was one of the best ways of enabling people to hear God.  Really hear God.  And Benedict believed if people could truly listen to God, they would be forever changed.

What Benedict popularized, a man named Guigo II systematized (ca. 1115-1198).[4] In one of his books Guigo described the four rungs of a ladder by which people could be “lifted up from the earth into heaven.”  These four steps allowed an individual to listen deeply to God through lectio divina: 1) lectio (lex-ee-o), 2) meditatio (med-ita-tsee-o), 3) oratio (o-ra-tsee-o) and 4) contemplatio (con-tem-pla-tsee-o).  Participation in each of these four activities would open up spiritual ears and enable us to hear what the living God is saying to us today.  I’ve reworded these four steps below as 1) read, 2) reflect, 3) respond and 4) rest.

Take Ten

Take ten minutes today to experience this ancient practice.  Through faith, trust that as you move through the four steps of lectio divina, you will hear God communicating to you in new and fresh ways.

1. Read – Lectio involves reading Scripture.  First, select a biblical text.  Choose one that is just a few verses in length.  Before reading it, get into a comfortable position and maintain silence for several minutes.  This prepares your heart to listen.  Now, read the text slowly.  Savor each word.  To help you hear every sentence and through, consider reading it out loud.  When finished, read it two or three additional times.  As you slowly read, be sensitive for one word or a phrase that sticks out and begs for more of your attention. Your goal is to hear one word or phrase that speaks to you or that piques your interest.  Keep reading until this word or phrase comes to you.
2. Reflect – In meditatio you now reflect on this word or phrase.  Slowly repeat the word or phrase that has caught your attention.  Meditate on it.  Chew on it.  If you keep a journal, write the word or phrase there.  Ask questions of it: “Why did this word or phrase catch my attention?”; “What is it about my life that needs to hear this word today?”  Your goal is to identify why God has placed this word or phrase on your heart and what God may be asking you to do or be through it.  Is he calling for some action?  Is he requiring some repentance?  Is he granting some insight?  Is he highlighting a reason for praise?
3. Respond – In oratio you respond to what you’ve heard from God.  By means of the word or phrase you’ve identified God has spoken to you.  Now, you speak to Him.  If God has convicted you of sin, respond with prayerful repentance.  If God has given you a new understanding about something, respond with prayerful gratitude.  If God has called you to action, respond with a verbal commitment to begin the action.
4. Rest – Finally, in contemplatio, you rest.  Just as you began with a few moments of silence, so now finish this heavenly conversation with a few moments of silence.  Rest quietly in the grace and presence of God.

[2] See Richard Foster Celebration of Discipline 20th Anniversary Edition (Harper SanFrancisco, 1998), 15-17.

^[3] Tony Jones The Sacred Way, (Zondervan, 2005), 48.

[4] Jones, 49-50.

Perfect Prayer

“Did I pray that correctly?”

I’m sometimes asked this question by a friend when we meet for prayer.  After she completes a brief time of leading our petitions, she occasionally gives voice to this fear: “Did I pray OK?”  She worries that she isn’t using the right words in the right way.  She frets that she doesn’t have the right emphasis and the right emotions.

Another friend regularly asks me to pray on his behalf, something I am honored to do.  But there are times when he prefaces his request with remarks like this: “You always pray better than I do.  You always know just what to say.  I think God’s more likely to answer your prayer about this than he is mine.”  My friend doubts he can produce the kind of plea that will catch God’s ear.

People of prayer have long struggled with this perspective.  It’s an outlook which views God as one who must be persuaded to act.  And only precise prayer-words will convince this reluctant God to answer affirmatively.

This was even a stance taken by many even in Jesus’ day.  While preaching about piety in Matt. 6:1-18, Jesus warns,

“The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply.” (Matt. 6:7-8 The Message).

Some ancient mystics believed they needed the right rule, the perfect program, or the most winsome words in order to get what they wanted from God.  Only those who could stitch words together into a flawless format could win over God’s heart.

Simple Supplication

But prayer is intended to be much simpler.  Peter Kreeft writes about the ease of prayer:[i]

Prayer is easier than we think…We can all do it, even the most sinful, shallow, silly, and stupid of us.  You do not have to master some mystical method. You do not have to master a method at all.  Can you talk to a friend? Then you can talk to God, for he is your Friend. And that is what prayer is. The single most important piece of advice about prayer is one word: Begin! God makes it easy: just do it!

Prayer is easier than we think.  It doesn’t require seamless sentences and faultless phonetics.  It can be as natural and unscripted as a conversation with a friend.  Jesus’ preferred image is that of a dialogue between a child and a parent: “Pray then like this: ‘Our Father…’” (Matt. 6:9 ESV).

Still, many of us feel the need for help.  We realize we don’t need perfect prose or sanctified speech.  But we’re not exactly sure what to say.  We feel a bit like Anne of Green Gables.[ii] The movie features Ann Shirley, an orphaned child placed the home of Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert.  One evening Marilla and Anne discuss prayer:

“Have you said your prayers?” Marilla asks Anne.

“I never say any prayers,” Anne responds.

“What do you mean? Haven’t you been taught to say your prayers?”

“Mrs. Hammond told me that God made my hair red on purpose, and I’ve never cared for him since.”

“Well, while you’re under my roof you will say your prayers.”

“Why, of course.  If you want me to. How does one do it?”

“You thank God for his blessings, and then humbly ask him for the things you want.”

“I’ll do my best. ‘Dear gracious heavenly Father, I thank you for everything. As for the things I especially want, they’re so numerous it would take a great deal of time to mention them all. So, I’ll just mention the two most important: please let me stay at Green Gables; please make me beautiful when I grow up. I remain yours respectfully, Anne Shirley—with an e.’ Did I do all right?”

“Yes, if you were addressing a business letter to the catalog store. Get into bed.”

“I should have said ‘amen’ instead of ‘yours respectfully.’ Think it’ll make any difference?”

“I expect God will overlook it—this time. Good night.”

We want to embrace the simplicity of prayer promised by Jesus, but we’re so often still unsure of what to say or how to say it.

The Ready Made Prayers of Jesus

This is why Jesus introduces us to what Mark Thibodeaux calls “ready-made prayers.”[iii] Jesus’ “Lord’s Prayer” in Matt. 6 is one of these—a pre-written prayer ready to be prayed by any follower of Jesus hungry for help on praying.  Through supplications such as this, Jesus takes us by the hand and walks us through a conversation with the Father.  Not to show us the only words that can ever be used.  But to reveal to us themes and habits that make for the most fruitful and enriching times of divine discussion.

This “Lord’s Prayer” is only one of many ready-made prayers.  The Gospels are filled with other petitions Jesus himself spoke.  They provide magnificent mentoring regarding prayer.  There are at least ten occasions on which the Gospel authors record the actual words Jesus spoke in prayer.  In them we find Jesus praying at least three types of prayers.[iv]

First, Jesus prayed inward prayers of complaint.  Here, Jesus gave voice to the deepest feelings of disappointment.  In his inward prayers of complaint Jesus teaches us how to look deep within ourselves and to share dark and discouraging feelings with God in prayer, to complain about our pain.

• 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)

• 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)

• 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).

Second, Jesus prayed upward prayers of confidence.  Despite the darkness and the despair, Jesus was able to pray upwardly with confidence that God still ruled, still listened, still reigned, and still cared.  Through these upward prayers of confidence Jesus shows us how to trust God even in the darkness.

• 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)

• ⁴¹And 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).

• 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).

• 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).

• 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).

Third, Jesus prayed outward prayers of compassion.  Here Jesus looked outward and prayed for the needs of friends and foes alike. With his outward prayers of compassion Jesus instructs us how to passionately plea for the people around us.

• 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).

• 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).

Take Ten

Choose one of the prayers of Jesus above and use it to inspire and/or inform a time of prayer today.

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[ii] Anne of Green Gables (Walt Disney, 1985), based on a novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery.

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

[iv] See my Prayers from the Pit (21^st Century Christian, 2011).

I was blessed with the opportunity to write a guest commentary on the day before Christmas for Memphis’ Commercial Appeal.  I chose to write on how the prayers of Jesus inform our own prayers during the often difficult days of the holidays.

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The Psalms are the original pre-owned prayers.  They are supplications and songs used by the people of God for generations.  Learning to pray the Psalms may be the simplest yet most significant step you can take towards growth in your relationship with God.

The Psalms fall into three categories: Orientation, Disorientation and Reorientation.[i] 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 stability and dependability of the life which God has created, reorientation prayers rejoice for a 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.

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 seems neither dependable nor 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.
• 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.  Prayers of the Plain stretch us to pray about issues we may generally overlook or take for granted, such as a beautiful and life-giving earth or the wise and insight-giving Scriptures.  Prayers of the Pit stretch us to grieve to God with bold and unapologetic laments that we may have never used before in prayer.  And Prayers from the Peak stretch us to praise in ways we may have never done before in prayer, using colorful and creative language.

Take Ten

One way to deepen your prayer-life is to pray one Psalm each day.  You can do this in about ten minutes (you may need to divide up some of the longer Psalms).  Some of the Psalms can be prayed nearly verbatim, just as they are written.  In others, you will need to make some revisions, such as changing second-person or third-person language to first-person language.  In some cases, you may wish to read the entire Psalm and then just paraphrase it to God in your own words.

There are two options for praying a Psalm daily: pray through the Psalter chronologically, or pray one type of Psalm each day (e.g., a Prayer from the Plain on day 1,  a Prayer from the Pit on day 2, and a Prayer from the Peak on day 3).  Below is a table that identifies each of the Psalms for you.  Take ten right now and pray through one Psalm.

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