Introduction
In his vision for life, Jesus speaks a great deal about prayer. He instructs us in the wrong way: “And when you pray, you must not…And when you pray, do not… (Matt. 6:5,7). And Jesus instructs us in the right way: “But when you pray…Pray then like this… (Matt. 6:6,9). It is clear that, for Jesus, prayer is one of the central practices for growing in piety.
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.
During the next three days, we’ll explore six parts of Scripture we might consider utilizing 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 prayers on this website. 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.
Take ten minutes (actually, it will take less than ten minutes) to pray through one Psalm today. Consider praying through Psalm 95:1-7a, changing “Let us” to “I will” and addressing God directly (e.g., “I will sing to your LORD; I will make a joyful noise to you, the rock of our salvation…” ).
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
[1] Mark Thibodeaux, Armchair Mystic (Saint Anthony Messenger Press, 2001).
[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).
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