Has anyone ever asked you, “How’s your prayer life?” If so, how did you answer them? If no one has asked you, let me ask you now…..
How’s your prayer life?
Many Christians have a difficult time in discussing their prayer life. Whether it be the cultural attitude that prayer is private, our inability to comprehend it, or whatever……… we tend not to talk about it. I think the biggest reason that we do not talk about our prayer life is because of the gap that exists in what could be and what is.
We know what could be. We have seen the impact that God has had on the lives of others. We read about the great theologians and hear stories of the powerful prayer warriors of yesterday and today and we see how God has transformed them through prayer. Yet when we look at ourselves a prayer life like that is far beyond our reach. We have not experienced anything like that so we would rather not bring up the subject. We do this with many other things….name it. Whether it is sports, academics or even cooking…….if we feel totally outdrawn by others we do not talk about it. I guess it’s our nature.
But this is the exact opposite approach that we should be taking in prayer. Henri Nouwen says, “The more we pray…the more we desire to pray. The desire to spend time with God and God alone is always growing. It creates in us a desire to be with the Lord whom we have seen shining through people and events….” Our desire to pray creates in us a deeper desire to pray. When this occurs our answer to the question “How is your prayer life?” changes. No longer is it avoidance or the giving of a mediocre response but one of “Let me tell you of the transformation that God has done.”
That’s the purpose of this study. To get you deeper into prayer through practical application
The goal is not to load you up with more information on prayer…..the last thing we need is to fill our heads with more information. We Need Action!!!! We need to do something with the information that we already have. Therefore, each week in this study there will be some insight into the depths of prayer but there will also be a style of prayer for you to try. Some of them will be helpful and you may incorperate them into your regular life of prayer……….others may not be that effective. That’s OK….don’t get discouraged. What works for you may not be the way that brings me into communion with God and vice versa. However, the overall effort is to draw you into a deeper life of prayer, regardless of where you are in your walk. Remember the quote from above, the more we pray the more we desire to pray. If you are a new-Christian or have been walking with the Lord for 50 years…….the purpose is the same……to pray.
With this, our focus this week is on centering prayer. Others call this meditative prayer, praying the scripture or simple prayer but the main concept still remains……….Centering prayer does not come from our mind, our knowledge, our throughts or any of the such. Centering prayer comes from the heart.
Centering prayer is not something new. Nor is it a New Age thing. It is an ancient form of prayer that joins mediatation on a word of Scripture with prayer. This prayer may seem mysterious to some because it depends so little on words. We do not give God information about all our needs, projects, ideas, programs, plans and agendas. We don’t suggest things we would like him to do. We simply sit in the presence of God and give him our undivided love and attention starting with His word.
Method
1. Set aside 15 minutes (Set a timer so you don’t have to worry about the time) and settle into a comfortable position.
2. Remove as many distractions as possible…and come to the Lord quiety. Turn your heart to His presence
3. Find a scripture that you enjoy…..a Psalm, words of Jesus in the Gospels…..whatever.
Begin reading the scripture that you have chosen…SLOWLY!!! A word or phrase at a time…..intentionally pausing between and allowing the words to penetrate your heart. Your purpose in this is not to gain some understanding of the text, rather, you are reading in order to turn your mind from outward things to the deep parts of your being. You are not there to learn or read….you are there to experience the presence of God.
4. Once you begin to focus on God and feel His presence……stop reading….let the Lord will meet you there
You will sense the presence of God there with you….no longer are you concerned with the words that you have read but now you are occupied only with God
5. If your mind begins to drift simply read another word or phrase to return to God
As the Spirit begins to move within you and your heart begins to warm imagine the hot coals of a fire there within you. The Hebrew word for Spirit is ruach which means wind or breath. As the wind of the Spirit blows across the coals within you it beings forth, a flame …. A fire…….a passion for God within you just as a flame emerges as we blow on the hot coals of a campfire.
6. Rest in the presence of this. Sense any movement, direction or guidance that He may be leading you in.
7. Continue this process….reading….listening…..resting…..until you no longer sense the movement of the Spirit or you are out of time.
8. Consider starting a journal to describe how God met you on that particular day.
Take time this week to try this form of prayer and reflect on these questions:
- Is not expressing my desires, wants and needs difficult in coming to prayer?
- Is it difficult to remove the distractions from life to focus on God?
- Did God meet you here?
- What happened inside you when you were quiet with God?
Throughout the week log-on to share any thoughts, ideas, comments or insight as to how this form of prayer has impacted your life. I pray that God will meet you there..
I His Grip….
Kevin
6 comments:
My centering scripture will be "Be still and know that I am God," from Psalms 46:10. I think that thought, that phrase is where it all has to start with me. Listen to God, wait for God, seek God, obey God - those are key thoughts for me. I get so caught up in ME and my life, and what I want to do, that I lose sight of who God really is.
I hope we can get lots of people to participate in this blog study to add value to our prayer life, not only as individuals at Salem, but also collectively, as a congregation. Thanks for doing this Kevin!
I'm commenting on my comment. I started my day "on center" and I can feel a difference. Anyone else out there have a comment to add?
I am glad to see the number of people who have visited this site. I am thankful for all of you who desire to deepen your relationship with Christ.
Interesting topic for our first study of “Prayer” !!!
I have been giving it some thought over the past couple of days……………
First of all, Kevin, I think you have already succeeded if your goal was to get some discussion started! My initial thought was, “Wait a minute! What about the first and great commandment? (Matthew 22:37-38) Is he suggesting that we should not use our minds when we are expressing our love of God through prayer?” Obviously an over-reaction on my part. I apologize!
My own experience with praying in silence has generally been by accident….happening in those brief moments when I don’t quite know how to begin my prayers or what exactly I want to say. I sit and try to gather my thoughts but not actually “listening” as centering prayer would suggest. I turn to prayer, daily, as a way of communicating, on a very personal level, with my Creator through both words and thoughts. During my time of prayer, I make sure that I always… praise, thank, worship, confess before, submit to and ask of….. Him, a multitude of things that have been on my mind. It just makes me feel better to “say” those things to Him aloud.
Regarding prayer, I do not believe that silence should ever be considered as superior to the spoken word. (but, I say that believing full well that God knows my every thought even before I say it!!) Furthermore, I do not believe that prayer is a “technique” to be learned. Everyone can and will pray, without prior instructions, when the impulse to pray arises in their lives (and it most certainly will!)…and I believe that those prayers will be heard no matter how they are presented to God!
Anyway, back to the topic at hand…………I do plan on incorporating some “planned” silence into my daily prayers throughout the next several days. Perhaps by weeks end
I will be able to share some of my experiences concerning this topic.
Just to repeat what Jon said, “Thanks, Kevin, for getting this started!”
Great comment Mike...
By no means is this a replacement for adoration / petition / supplication / confession / etc..... Silence is in addition to these things. There is no ranking of importance - they are all important - they are all #1....it just depends on where we are at in our walk and in our life.
Typically, when we come before God in prayer, we have a multitude of thoughts/requests/confessions/etc that we desire to make.....and we need to make. However, more often than not, when we are done with those items our time of prayer is over.
But what this approach is suggesting is that prayer is a two way street. That it is our expression to God and God's expression to us.
What if there is something that God wants to reveal to us?
Something we didn't think of...
Something we may not be aware of...
A direction He wants us to move in.
Or simply His desire to reveal His love to us....
Many times these are revealed in the whispers of silence. The goal of Centering prayer is to take us to that time of silence to listen to the whispers of God. We do not eliminate our mind but open it to the possibilities of what God has to say....which may be way beyond our current understanding....
Hope this helps
Kevin
I remember 9 years ago when I was too confused to "form" a prayer...could only seem to read a daily devotional--so after reading, I would just sit in silence and within a few minutes I would begin to "hear" thoughts coming to me and so I would begin to write..the pen would move and it was as if the words were spilling forth onto the page. When I had finished I couldn't believe what beautiful, meaningful thoughts were written there and even though I had not expressed my needs...what was written was a specific answer to my need. This went on for many months through this dark period in my life so I do believe that He comes to our hearts and minds when we are quiet and open to receiving His messages. I second "Be still and know....
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