Huh? Praying the Prayers of Others………..what does that mean?
Today, in most evangelical churches, the style of prayer that is employed the most is what is known as extemporaneous prayer. Extemporaneous prayer is prayer that is basically telling God what is on your heart. There is nothing pre-written, pre-chosen, or decided ahead of time. It is basically coming before the Lord and speaking as the Spirit moves……..kinda “off the cuff” if you will. Now, I imagine the vast majority of your prayer life would fall into this category (I know mine does), as does the vast majority of the prayers within the church. From the opening and closing prayers to the Pastoral Prayer ….basically everything (outside of the Lord’s Prayer) is extemporaneous.
But have you ever been in a time of Prayer with something on your heart and just not able to express it? It’s there, you know what it is but you just can’t get it out. You know that God knows your heart but you still want to express it to Him…..somehow. Maybe you are new to the faith and not quite sure what to pray. Maybe you have been walking with Christ for years yet realize there is so much more to prayer than what you are currently experiencing. If this is you…..have you considered praying the prayers of others……. or what is known as “Common Prayer”.
Common Prayer is simply utilizing prayers that have been written by others for common purposes. Traditionally, this has taken shape in churches such as the Catholic Church, Episcopal Church, Anglican Church and other “liturgical” based denominations who have written specific prayers for certain purposes within the church. However, there are opportunities for us to use this concept, prayers written by others, within our personal life of prayer.
Now I have to be honest, when I first heard of this I was a bit skeptical. How in the world could a prayer that someone else wrote be helpful to me? These are just “canned” prayers…..why would I want to do something like that? Is this really even prayer….just reading someone else’s stuff?
Then, during a time of spiritual dryness, I read this short prayer from St. John of the Cross, “My Spirit has become dry because it forgets to feed on you.”
Wow!! That’s Deep!! That’s it!! That’s exactly where I was and what I was feeling……and that nailed it!!
That’s when I quickly realized there is so much more to prayer than what I was experiencing in my time with the Lord. Here’s another one:
“God, of your goodness give me yourself for you are sufficient for me. I cannot properly ask anything less, to be worthy of you. If I were to ask less, I should always be in want. In you alone do I have all.” - Julian of Norwich
You may think that this type of prayer is too rigid or liturgical, let me suggest that incorporating it can add freedom to your time with God. Here’s how:
- They can “Prime the Pump” as we say. Just as meditating on scripture draws us into a deeper focus on God, incorporating these prayers can bring us to that same place.
- It may help us to articulate the yearnings of the heart that we could not express before
- It gives us insight to the prayers of others so that our life of prayer may be expanded
- It guards against the temptation to be spectacular and entertaining in prayer
- It helps us to avoid being content where we are at
If you are interested in trying this let me suggest a few resources. First, The Oxford Book of Prayer which contains the prayers listed above and many, many more. You can purchase this used for $5 (see link to the right) and is well worth the investment. Not into books? I found a website that leads you through a time of prayer using written prayers. It’s called Sacred Space and it gives you a daily devotional reading and then a series of prayers to begin to draw you into the presence of God. If you don’t mind sitting at the PC and praying……..it’s cool.
Extemporaneous prayer still remains … by far …. my #1 style of prayer. But the inclusion of other’s prayer…the giants of the faith, the saints of yesteryear, those who are on the same journey that I am on … has added a new dimension to my life. Remember, a full life of prayer contains infinite variety…. and one of those ways is through the prayers of others. I pray that this will help you to take the next step in your walk with Christ.
In His Grip
Kevin
4 comments:
I tried the sacred space concept and really enjoyed it. I find myself all to often "making lists" of people and things I need to pray for. This sight is a good addition to my existing prayer to help keep me centered and focused, while incorporating God's word into prayer. Keep up the suggestions!
As I thought about this week’s blog topic, I came to the realization that the idea behind “Common Prayer” is not that unusual in the Christian community. The words written by others are continually being repeated during worship services. We just take such occurrences for granted and don’t give them a second thought. We recite the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-15) during Sunday worship. We sing the Doxology after the offering. We hears the words of Jesus (Mark 26:26-28) repeated during the Eucharist. We unite as a congregation to sing pre-composed hymns of praise and adoration of our Lord and God during worship. Our lives as true Christians are full of examples of reliance on the words of others to convey our feelings so why NOT do the same in our prayer life? No use re-inventing the wheel! I think it’s an idea, as Kevin stated, worthy as an addition to but not used in place of, our own extemporaneous prayers. Those, for me, are still the most important!
I, too, have been to the Sacred Space website. However, I have concluded that sitting in front of a computer screen during devotional time was just a bit awkward so I opted for the “printer-friendly version” of its prayer sessions. Now I can refer to this paper format which, to agree with the other comment, helps keep me centered and focused on my goal of communicating with God on a personal level through His word.
Right on.......we do it all the time.
It's interesting when you begin taking elements of corporate worship and begin introducing them into private times of worship and prayer. Things like lighting a candle, reading the word aloud rather than silently, listening to music, praying the prayers of others, etc..... all as pathways of centering on God. Sometimes they can develop into an entire time of worship....just you and God.
There are times when I am in the car for an extended time that I can have an entire worship service....right there. Put some praise songs and a message from another preacher on my iPod....then turn it off for a time of prayer. All while I am flying north 71.
Thanks Mike....
I enjoyed this week's posts and comments. Another one of those common prayers is St. Francis of Assissi's. While we wouldn't want any of these prayers to be said in a contrived way, many of these prayers say exactly what needs said.
Sometimes I find myself just repeating phrases from within those prayers during my driving time - "Thy will be done" is a big one for me!
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