This Christian Life

"Prayer is the soul's sincere desire --
unuttered or expressed --
the motion of a hidden fire
that trembles at the breast.

Prayer is the burden of a sigh,
the falling of a tear,
the upward glancing of the eye
when none but God is near."

William H. Havergill, 1846, vs. 1 & 2

hey bro. i think one thing we lost in our branch of the reformation was the presence of little prayer-aids. for example, a rosary or a memorized passage that we use daily to keep us consistently praying. i have been reading this cheesy devotional every single night for about 4 months now called the Upper Room. (your church probably has them in the narthex). it is so simple yet so good. Nancy and i both do it. the days i forget or are too tired to read, i really miss it. it's like something is missing.

my thought is that we can't "white knuckle" our way through spirituality in this physical world sometimes, meaning, we can't rely on ourselves to be consistent enough. we can receive the help of little things to point us to God. try buying a rosary and keeping at your desk or something.

Paul,

You are not different - just more honest than most! Prayer is probably THE most difficult form of worship we Christians attempt. It fights against the very fabric of our being - you know that small inner voice that says, "I can do it by myself thank you very much."; at least that's what I find with me. Thanks for you honesty and vulnerability! That, my brother, is most encouraging.

Thanks everyone. Very good to hear from all of you.

I've often wondered about rosarys. I guess someone would have to show me how to use one.

Hey dude. I totally sympathize with you on this. I know it's tough, and you had the courage to write a post that I didn't :). It seems like I keep coming up with an excuse that I'll have more time for prayer and devotions when "XZY" calms down a bit, etc.,. I know it's just excuses though....

i wouldn't recommend using a rosary like a traditional catholic might (i think you're theologically trained differently anyway) but there are other ways too. you can even make something up or use family names for each bead. you would hold that bead, pray for that person (or word, or whatever), then hold the next bead, pray for that one, then move on until you have done them all or until you are finished praying. or you could have a simple 4-bead line and have each one stand for a separate aspect of prayer, for example Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication (ACTS). holding each bead while you pray these concepts can really assist as well.

i'm with Garland and Jamison: thanks for being honest on your website and saying the things we all think sometimes!

It has been incredibly cold here in Madrid the past week or so. Incredibly cold. Especially because they don't run the heat as often as we would at home. We get six hours a day of heat, three in the morning, three at night. To make matters worse for the first week I couldn't figure out how to get the shower to heat up - cold AND wet!

Since then I have figure out how to adjust the shower just right so that I get a warm shower. When I step into that shower and my body temperature rises even for just a short while I mutter quietly "Thank you G-d for heat."

I think another thing we miss in our understanding of prayer is that it's not always a formula (although I agree with Nathan that prayer-aids can sometimes be helpful). A part of prayer that I have been discovering and growing to love is simple prayer. The simple act of recognizing his interaction in our lives and thanking him for the good things he has given us is in my opinion incredibly powerful.

Another place I have found prayer is in my conversations about faith - have you ever considered that probably 90% of your posts on this site are prayers? Even this post is a confessional prayer that includes a petition not only to G-d but to your community for help. I think it possible that the reason we say things like "G-d spoke to me through that person" is because G-d does. We have a conversation about faith, G-d, our dreams and desires and there's G-d indwelling the person across the table from you ready to speak truth into your life. How amazing is that?!?

Sometimes I think the reason that we don't understand Paul's statement about the fact that he prays without ceasing is because we have too narrowly defined prayer. What if prayer is this huge cosmic thing that engulfs us, surrounds us, and empowers us in ways we haven't even begun to imagine? What if prayer is the very fabric of our relationship with G-d and permeates every communication we have with, about, or for him?

What if we have drawn way too many lines in the sand between worship and prayer, faith and love, truth and Jesus? What if our feeble attempts to understand this relationship that G-d wants to have with us are getting in the way? I think it's possible that if we were to lay down all of our definitions of spiritual words, all of our theology, orthodoxy, and liturgy we might find that G-d is right there - obscured by them. Hidden by all of these tools we are trying to use to find him.

Thank you, Samuel. Absolutely wonderful.

I know I'm reading this post WAAAAAY after the fact but I totally agree with Samuel that "we have too narrowly defined prayer" in our upbringing. It helps me get over the oughts and shoulds by seeing my LIFE as my prayer. When I wake up and say "Thank you," I'm praying. When I'm driving and want to road-rage, I'm praying. When I smile or get angry or criticize or feel compassion or whatever, I'm praying. My Life and the way I live it is my prayer-conversation with God. Communication both ways, often through my conscience and sometimes through a conscious listening or meditation on God. It's not always audible/spoken but almost always involves action.