For years, my wife has been concerned about me because I am pretty much a prayerless guy. It’s true that compared to the hours my wife devotes to prayer every day, I’m pretty pathetic.
As a teenager, someone gave me a book called The Kneeling Christian, which held out an image of prayer that has made me a loser ever since. I’ve never participated in any kind of Christian growth experience without coming away depressed at my lack of personal prayer.
In my tradition, really spiritual Christians are athletes of prayer. In the traditions I’ve always admired, prayer has been a nearly full-time occupation. (My wife prays the Hours throughout the day and prays the Rosary faithfully.) If anyone ever diagnoses what’s the problem with my spiritual life, I can always start them out with my starving prayer life.
I don’t want to paint things worse than they are. I pray the office in Common Prayer. I pray with my classes and I pray for my family, my preaching and the Kingdom of God as I can. But it’s not something that comes easy to me or that I relish like the athletes of prayer around me.
I wasn’t around to check out the guy’s devotional life, but I think I’m fairly Martin Luther in temperament. Luther seemed to be the kind of guy who valued the Lord’s Prayer because it was short; the kind of person more inclined to study and read than to spend long hours in prayer, and who found himself praying intensely mostly when the situation was desperate. Luther was a man of prayer, but I sense in him that struggle with his own “spirituality” that I have; a struggle that treasures God’s many promises in the Gospel that forgive and cover my inadequacies as a spiritual guy.
But lately, prayer has become more and more a natural part of my life. Recent events have created in me a desire to pray, and even an enjoyment of prayer, which is pretty amazing for me. But my new habits of prayer are considerably out of the box.
I talk to Jesus and he talks back.
***long pause****
Yes, that’s what I said.
You can say I’m cracking up, or that I’ve read too much of The Shack, or that my emerging side has gone over the edge. It doesn’t matter to me. In addition to structured prayer and prayer guided by the Lord’s Prayer as a template, I’m talking with Jesus and he’s talking with me.
I could pause here and write all the objections and all the analysis that you want. I can’t prove anything. I’m not claiming anything. I wouldn’t wager my savings on the inerrancy of anything Jesus says to me. It may all be an exercise in dramatizing prayer in an imaginative way. I really don’t care.
What I know that it is is very, very helpful, and it’s changing me as I move through a difficult season of my life.
This all started when I was coming back from a speaking engagement and was in the car for about 5 hours. I was going through a tremendous trial in my faith and life, so I started conversing with Jesus about some of the things that were happening. I started telling him how I felt. I wept a bit, which is not normal with me. I asked questions.
Jesus answered. What did he say? He said things that Jesus would say. In a voice in my mind that I can understand and in words and concepts that are clearly part of my world, Jesus told me that he loved me, that I could trust him, that he loves my wife more than I do, that he understands my fears, that he wasn’t angry at me for being angry with him, and so on.
Yes, I know. It sounds a lot like the character of Jesus that exists in my own mind, based on all that I know about Jesus, his life, his teachings and his Kingdom. Maybe if you add it all up, that’s what we’ve got: me talking to me. A grown up imaginary friend, etc.
On the other hand, for Michael right now, Jesus is close and his voice is the voice I recognize from years of coming to know Jesus. It is the voice that calls me to the Gospel, to the Trinity, to the church, and strangely for me, to freedom in my choices. It is the voice of God’s kindness. It is the voice that knows and reveals the Father; the voice of accepted tenderness, hurricane-like love and endless patience. It is a voice that gives me dignity, assurance and an invitation to go at my own speed. If it’s not Jesus, it’s doing a fine imitation.
It isn’t a voice that I can confidently say is my own. It’s too much like him, and it’s too full of his love, patience and purpose. It isn’t the voice of my religious training or my own desires. It’s the voice that woos and carries; the voice that the sheep recognize; the voice that calms and creates.
It is the voice of tender thunder. It is the voice that knows me inside out but knows a lot more than what is inside of me. It is the voice gentle discipline, loving truthfulness and unwavering love beyond judgement.
Think whatever you want. Yesterday I sat in church, praying for each part of the service as it came into my vision. Instead of criticizing the sermon, I prayed for the pastor and the people. I prayed for the people of God and was grateful to be part of them. I prayed for the reminders and signs of the Kingdom that were all around me. Five students were baptized, and I prayed for God to fill them with his Spirit and to own them forever by his mighty love.
And I talked with Jesus. About being in church. About prayer, patience, adventure, disappointment, temptation, doubt and failure.
Jesus answered me and spoke to my open heart and mind. Not in some mysterious way that demands I write a book in his voice or claim something unique. He says what he’s said before, to me and many others; what I’ve heard and read and known from him all these years, but that never came into my experience as God’s patience, empowering Word for me.
Say what you want. Think what you want. Write what you want. You’re probably right.
But Jesus will tell me to listen to him and trust him anyway.
Ho, boy. You are going to have fun with this one. ;-)
I’ll sidestep the main thrust of your post for now, as I just wanted to comment on your point about Martin Luther. Luther’s pastoral insight and sensitivity on this issue is shown by the prayers he provides in the Small Catechism.
Even though Luther himself could pray for hours each day, when it comes to providing material for others to pray he gives them something a lot less onerous, rather than expecting people to copy him. Invocation, creed, Lord’s Prayer, closing prayer, then go straight to work (in the morning) or to sleep (in the evening – he clearly wasn’t writing for shift-workers!): the real meat of true prayer, but in a form which wouldn’t overwhelm those who were working long days in the fields or workshops.
Michael,
As someone who’s dear wife has been gently been pushing back into talking to Jesus on a more regular basis, you don’t know how much this impacted me this morning. Thanks for writing it.
For those who will attempt to debate you on who your conversation partner really is, I have a one word response. Whatever.
Michael, I’m glad to hear that your prayer life is finding new energy. I personally use a couple of prayer books to get me started. I especially love “The Valley of Vision”. It’s excellent. I too find myself talking to Christ throughout the day so that my prayer life often ‘feels’ like conversation. And isn’t it true that if we have the Holy Spirit within us – if Christ is in us, and we in Him – then we should understand prayer as actual communication; you know…where we talk and Christ listens…AND where Christ talks and we listen? This sounds perfectly normal to me, as long as we understand that the inner ‘subjective’ voice of the Spirit must always be heard against the ‘objective’ voice of Scripture. So, if that voice inside you that sounds like Christ tells you to dress in a bikini, dance on a table, and claim that you are the Queen of Sheba…uh, maybe then we should look at this a little closer.
I have lunch weekly with a chiropractor friend. The conversation is always framed by a conversation we had several months ago. He said, “I wish I could talk to God like I’m talking to you.”
I gave him the predictable reply: “Why can’t you? Just do it.”
He did, and began writing down some of the most profound conversations I have ever seen.
I have to say, I find it a bit disturbing that you should have to toss out a “say-think-write” disclaimer about something that Jesus Himself described, not as unusual or weird, but as a simple part of His every-day life. Not disturbed at you personally so much as the fact that you would feel the need to defend the idea that God (the LOGOS) actually speaks.
Again, wonderfully refreshing. Thank you.
“It isn’t the voice of my religious training or my own desires.”
That sounds right (based on my understanding of Christ). Any consolation like this one is a blessing. He’s pulling you closer to Him.
This struck me as very Christ like: “that he loves my wife more than I do, that he understands my fears, that he wasn’t angry at me for being angry with him, and so on” Gently encouraging you to trust in Him more and “be not afraid” and a great reassurance, very beautiful. Reminds me of the Father as well in the OT righteous men bargain (Abraham) or even wrestle with God (Israel).
If it is not Him it should become evident in your actions over time. If it was not Him I expect the voice would tempt you to vanity or anger or something along those lines.
I think prayer is like the Eucharist, what you get out of it depends on how you approach it. Your heart was open so the prayer was well received. Quality rather than quantity.
I love this stuff, thank you for sharing it with us.
I’ll second John H.
Luther once said that the three things that make a theologian were prayer, study, and torture. (loose translation.) By torture he was referring to lifes hard times.
He also said the more he had to do in a day, the more time He devoted to prayer. Luther held prayer in quite high esteem. But enough on that.
I really don’t know anyone that could not improve on their prayer life. I know what you mean about feeling guilty for not doing it though, especially after spiritual growth seminars. Prayer is a gift though. We are commanded to pray, but if we pray because we feel we have to, we really miss the point.
I’m a slacker at prayer. Faithful at it when I’m going to the office everyday. Not quite as faithful when I’m on vacation or over the weekend.
Thanks. This is what I needed.
Niiiiiiicccee.
OK. Good. If the inner voice you hear is the voice of God, fantastic! If it is your own self sorting out your problems, that’s not bad, either. Listen well.
Jean,
I believe that what I am experiencing can be called the presence of the Holy Spirit in the imagination. The indwelling Spirit working with the existing thought and imaginative processes.
That is why I don’t ask Jesus what stocks are going up. I believe the base of knowledge here is my own, but the presence of Jesus in and with me is completely real, and the capacities for imaginative communion and communication are as real as I am real.
peace
MS
Since I have attempted to start blogging, I’ve been reading quite a few blogs (yours incl.) What I have found in blogs and in life is that GOD answers our questions sometimes right in the midst of them and we sometimes fail to realize it. For exam. As you comment about your lack of prayer life you found the voice of Jesus during a 5 hour ride. It is in solitude (that even Jesus took) when we are in direct conversation with The One who gives us life. GOD is good all the time. Especially when we’re paying attention
I believe that what I am experiencing can be called the presence of the Holy Spirit in the imagination. The indwelling Spirit working with the existing thought and imaginative processes.
I’m glad you said that. I’d assumed that’s what you meant, and it’s certainly how I would have explained it, if it weren’t grossly impertinent for me to step in and start “explaining” your interior spiritual experiences from the other side of the planet…
Is there an emotional aspect? Do you feel a sense of love, or joy or peace? I mean the emotion is superabundant, beyond your own normal emotional range.
Oh my! That was just a wonderful post. Thank you. It’s always good to know that my wonderful times with God are exactly the same as those of Christians around the globe. God is awesome – May you enjoy Him forever and ever.
Doesn’t seem strange to me at all. As C. S. Lewis said, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” All you’ve been going through recently can be seen as a wake-up call. I don’t think Jesus started talking to you, so much as you started listening.
I used to think the voice of Jesus in my head was simply that—in my head, manufactured by me, as a way of reminding myself of what He’s said in the scriptures. That is, until He started telling me stuff that you couldn’t find in the bible, and that stuff started happening, or getting confirmed by other Christians.
The sad fact is that He is just that close to every single last one of us, and yet people dismiss His voice as self-delusion.
U know Memphis… it looks to me like the Truth being told makes ALL true-believers seem emotional to the on-looking world
Read it and weep(?)
FRIDAY, MAY 2, 2008
Daily Prayers: May 03
Almighty God, Whose power controls the Universe and Whose kingdom never ends, I humbly approach You as a loving servant and child of Your grace, as a seeker of faith and follower of Your ways.
Heavenly Lord, Who knows all my secrets and Who sees all that happens in my life, I focus my mind on You alone; I devote my heart to Your will.
Merciful Father, I have often failed to live by faith. I have neglected to support the needs of other people. I have omitted to set aside time to worship You each day. I have followed my own selfish ways and have sometimes chosen to fulfill my sinful desires.
Gracious God, have mercy upon me and forgive my foolish deeds. Be patient with me and pardon the mistakes that I make, the faults that I have, and the sins I commit. Hear me now as I silently make my confessions.
– SILENCE –
Compassionate Lord, instead of causing me to hide from Your anger and flee from Your wrath, You graciously allow me to seek forgiveness from Jesus Christ, Your Holy Son. His mercy endures forever, through His sacrificial obedience, and I am completely thankful for His grace.
In Christ’s Name, I pray and through His own precious words, I unite my heart to His, saying, “Our Father, Who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory forever. Amen.
And all God’s people said…
Don’t stop. You know what Paul wrote about praying without ceasing. Many years ago, I was taught – or I put together – how to use the cross from the words of many other disciples – as in Romans 8 – if you by the Spirit do put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. And having died with him, a dead person cannot sin. Then I began to learn about the gifts of the Spirit – the Lord, the Giver of Life as we say in the creed. I have had plenty of ups and downs since then – plenty-o-trouble as the Spiritual goes – but the inner dialogue is like psalms which illustrate the same covenant security. The only safe place to express our anger is in such prayer. The psalmist expresses love also.
You’re not mad – and sometimes you will inner hear those words as if they had been spoken out loud – but such a Face is more than words.
Michael, thanks for writing this post. You have done a wonderful job of describing how you “hear” the voice of God, but also with alot of humility, which I have never heard in the same sentence as “God told me”.
Sounds completely normal to me.
It was when I stopped praying with the expectation of hearing something back that I suddenly wasn’t able very much to pray.
FYI Elizabeth
I once had a consolation that was of the Holy Spirit and it was very emotional. I did not mean it as a negative at all, quite the opposite. I felt the love of God poured out in great abundance – I can not do it justice. I’ve never felt anything before or since to match it.
Yes yes yes !!! Everything about God relates to His spoken word. Jesus is the WORD of God in the flesh!! With His word…let there be light, the universe!!!!! I am sooooooooooo rejoicing to know you are hearing and experiencing Him in all your day. His sheep know His voice…He is continually speaking. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit each have a different sound or shape to their voice. May we discern them all…because they are always speaking. If we stop to think about all we know and have read about God and His creative energy, it is all tied to the spoken word, His or ours (created in His image). Life and death the power of the tongue, heaven and earth will pass away but the word of God will last forever!!
The words of God are spoken eternally to be received (heard) every day. God’s love is so detailed and intimate He numbers the hairs of our head…the Holy Spirit will lead us in the smallest details of our life IF WE WILL ALLOW ourselves to be TRAINED to HEAR and OBEY Him. GOD is AWESOME, He is GOOD and His mercy endures FOREVER!!!
In His sufficient grace, Mark
“I believe the base of knowledge here is my own, but the presence of Jesus in and with me is completely real…”
It doesn’t sound like Jesus will be telling you to buy a pair of biker boots anytime soon. ;-)
Thought and reason cannot be divorced from prayer. Involving scripture helps, but skepticism against reason will result in strange voices saying strange things from the pages of scripture as easily as from ones head.
Albert Schweitzer wrote, “Renunciation of thinking is a declaration of spiritual bankruptcy. Where there is no longer a conviction that men can get to know the truth by their own thinking, skepticism begins. Those who work to make our age skeptical in this way, do so in the expectation that, as a result of renouncing all hope of self-discovered truth, men will end by accepting as truth what is forced upon them with authority and by propaganda” (from “The Spiritual Life: Selected Writings of Albert Schweitzer”, p. 19).
Michael
I hope you are not stressed about your prayerlife. It’s obvious from your writing that you are “in touch” with Jesus. It just does’nt take the form of a more formal type of prayer session. The last few month’s your writing has had a transparency and humility that is remarkable, so whatever you are doing keep it up.
Preachergerry
I think it’s always been about talking to Jesus. Public prayer is actually pretty worthless. Praying outloud, in a church service for instance, shows that prayer is important to the believer, has a certain place in the litergy, can perhaps even teach listeners how to pray. But the public prayer has a way of being about who’s listening to us pray, not about talking to Jesus. Talking to Jesus changes things. That’s the effectual fervant prayer of a righteous man in Ephesians 6; not anything rehersed or recited.
Leading up to a revival, our church signed people up to pray at the top of each hour everyday for a week. I decided I would say a brief prayer at the top of every hour myself. From 7a.m. until 10 or 11p.m. each day I said at least a few words, sometimes much more depending on what was going on at the time. Try doing that sometime for a week; it will make you a different person. Calling out to God a dozen times throughout the day, however short, is a different experience than praying for an hour straight in the morning.
Clark:
Mark P and I are sending this comment to anyone who ever called on you to pray in public :-)
First, I believe Jesus was a critic of the hypocrisy that was possible via public prayer. I think he couldn’t have been more plain that it is possible for public prayer to be a show.
Secondly, examples of public prayer in both old and new testament abound, and it is clearly part of the Christian liturgy and early Christian practice. The opposite idea, that every Christian should pray, is fine until you start doing corporate worship. Then you have I Cor 14 or the radio shows you hear on 103.7 on Sundays.
So I agree with you that we should be cautious and aware of what public prayer is and isn’t.
Third, you are right that many descriptions of prayer are of personal prayer, but I don’t think that quite sets up the “pretty worthless” comment. I’d say public prayer is too important to make it just about me, and it is a holy responsibiity to guide a worshiping people into a pathway of prayer. If anything, I think we sin by taking public prayer far too lightly.
Spurgeon and many other good examples worked hard at public prayer and took it very seriously. The Puritans saw it as a major ministerial responsibility, close in importance to the sermon.
Those of us who grew up in SBC churches probably are exposed to some of the worst public praying in history.
peace
MSpencer
If you have a shared public prayer like the “Our Father” I think that has value. Something reasonably simple and general like “Christ have mercy” that we all can offer as a group should be OK. If public prayer is shared I think it avoids the vanity of praying on street corners by not singling anyone out.
I think Jesus speaks to me. When it happens, I try not to let my words or my reasoning interrupt.
Ah Prayer… Why is it that if you listen to a person praying out loud, you could change the word pray for the word ask 99% of the time. …from Indigo in The Princess Bride… “I do not think that word means what you think it means”…
Prayer should be conversing with God. Reading, thinking, listening, talking are all therefore praying. I know about Philipians and the “present your requests” bit… there is a time to be asking, but ask for things don’t pray for them. It messes up the words. (Ooops preaching… )
Proverbs 13:3 states… “He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin.” Less talking and more quiet or listening would be prudent.
Then Job 42:3 says “You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.”.
Some would say that I do not pray because I do not ask God for things. I try not to ask for “things I do not understand”. I don’t understand much. I feel that this is an issue of faith. I trust him and am afraid that I will ask for something I don’t understand. Wisdom, therefore, is the only thing I ask for. It seems safe.
Michael, talking with God sounds great to me. I have a hard time not letting my mind wander while I try to “listen”. Your words are encouraging. Thanks!
Those of us who grew up in SBC churches probably are exposed to some of the worst public praying in history.
If the kids weren’t asleep I could have laughed louder. As a cradle SBC kid, I wholeheartedly agree. I swear that some of the deacons that went to the church I grew up in wrote their prayers and practiced them before Sunday came along.
Jeff M
Don’t forget “pray without ceasing” 1 Thessalonians 5:17
(a very high standard). As for the meaning of “pray”. I would say it has many meanings in that prayer can take many forms (like a conversation).
What’s wrong with asking? What part of ask and you shall receive is hard to follow? Doesn’t the parable of the persistent widow and the Judge encourage us to keep asking? Granted when we ask for what we shouldn’t have and isn’t good for us what we really need is understanding, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be engaged. It’s like when your young children ask for candy or ice cream, don’t you look on them with love and understanding when you tell them no? We are like little children before God asking Him for all kinds of things, some of which He will certainly tell us “no that’s not good for you, this is what you really need”. We should have no fear of asking , after all He already knows your heart. Just ask like Christ did in the garden. He asked that the cup be taken from him, 3 times, but in the end accepted His Father’s will.
I’ve come to different conclusions about Jesus answering back. I’m neither a charismatic nor a cessationist. I was taught two way prayer when I was young. The problem for me was while what came was often comforting, over time I found there was a lot of nagging in it. After some introspection over time, I found my mom was mixed in. So this was at least partly my own mind, with its internalized parents.
On the other hand, I would get Scriptural insights that were deeper than those I expected to get by myself. So this didn’t seem to be just my mind and nothing beyond my mind.
I think St. Paul provides something in talking about having the mind of Christ (e.g. 1 Corinthians 2:16, Philippians 2:5). I think this is something we develop as Scripture gets internalized. The Holy Spirit accompanies it, illumining it.
The tough part is, when we go into a mode of conversation, we have more going on in our minds than just the Bible or our minds alone, or even the illumination of the Holy Spirit. They flow together. Should a person take what is said by “Jesus” in their inner dialog as being inerrant, as it would be if its inspiration was plenary?
One odd note. When I gave up the habit of two way prayer because I didn’t think Jesus spoke apart from the Word, the habit was still a bit automated. One day I heard the voice in my head say, “You know, Rick. I don’t speak apart from the Word.” Hmmm. That’s like one of Zeno’s paradoxes.
“Those of us who grew up in SBC churches probably are exposed to some of the worst public praying in history.”
That sentence should properly be constructed as follows:
“Those of us who just, grew up in, just SBC churches, just probably are exposed to just, some of the just, worst praying in history.”
If I spent 1/4 the time in prayer that I spend on the computer, I think I will be better off.
LOL, Brian.
Michael — What a delightful way to let people know you’re finally discovering what “prayer” actually is: a conversation within a relationship. Liturgical prayers are training wheels, even beautiful ones, and they can help bring orderliness for corporate prayer, but they’re at best a jump-start to what ought to be happening privately.
When I first discovered books by Corrie ten Boom and the book “The Story of the Lord’s Dealings with Amanda B. Smith, the Colored Evangelist” (out of print, but worth looking for), I found them so encouraging. Neither hesitated to say, “Then the Lord said this to me, and I said that, and then he said this, and I said no, and then I had to repent, and then . . .”
It was refreshing to find Christians who didn’t feel it necessary to make disclaimers about possible mental illness or delusion when talking about their relationship with God. Thanks for bravely sharing!
“You can say I’m cracking up, or that I’ve read too much of The Shack”
Probably…
“or that my emerging side has gone over the edge.”
Definitely..
The explanation may be as pedestrian as the fact that the decades you have spent reading about him, studying him, analyzing him, writing about him, etc.. have born fruit. You have created a Jesus-space in your consciousness. In a loopback, your thoughts are filtered through this portion of your brain and answered in a way that you have built Jesus in your brain.
Kinda like the guy in The Dead Zone. Your brain is now re-routed through this previously unused portion of your consciousness…a consciousness you have built–if you excuse the expression–into a Jesus shape.
Or as Paul would perhaps put it, you have created the “mind of Christ” within you.
Of Jesus really is speaking to you. In as much as your “Jesus Shaped” brain is true, it perhaps makes very little difference.
(My own opinion, it is a combination of the two. In my other opinion, I am extremely jealous. Extremely!!!)
Wonderful!
Years ago a friend would say, “I was praying about you the other day at the mall,” and I realized he was saying he had been thinking about me. At the time I, and others I have shared this with, assumed all he had been doing was just thinking.
With time and maturity I realized — hey, God is cognizant of all, right? Then He hears what I’m thinking. If He hears, and if I’m addressing Him — or even including Him as a cc so to speak — then I’m praying. Of course if I’m aware I’m communicating with the Creator and doing so in the character of Christ Who claims me, then I should do so with respect and also with an open ear for His response.
If the God we woship is really God, and if what Jesus taught us about Him is true, is it not to be expected that we should actually communicate? If not, aren’t we actually the deists we evangelicals denounce?
I understand exactly why you expect others to scoff, saying it’s all in your head. That would be a reasonable and rational explanation if one has never been close enough to hear. And not all of us are close enough to hear, and there are perhaps so many in that situation that the deaf would believe themselves to be normal.
On another aspect — I find the Lord’s prayer to be a wonderful anchor prayer, if/when I pray it robustly, by restating it as I go into words that I can actually mean: what does hallowed mean, what Your kingdom mean, what does Your will mean, what should it mean to me to ask for enough to eat for today when I already have a full freezer/pantry/frig, what do trespasses mean inside my life, etc. While this does not make it a short prayer, it does make it a sincere — or at least convisting — prayer.
Thanks for a great post that shares the gospel.
Memphis Aggie
I really liked your child analysis, but what about 1 Corinthians 13:11 “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.”?
I think that I am tired of asking for things that are bad for me and that I don’t really know what is good for me, so I am thinking that the only thing I can really ask for is wisdom. For the child, asking is fine… If we have a Jesus Shaped Spirituality, wouldn’t we mature?
As for why Jesus asked that he not have to go to the cross, that really baffles me. Why would God ask God to let him change course. I know why Jesus, a man, would ask God, but Jesus was also God. Too deep for me, but that is ok. The Shack makes you think here…
Still, my main point was that our “church” culture has screwed up our vocabulary. “pray” “ask”. “Pray” “talk only”. We interchange the words pray and ask like they are synonyms, they are not, which implies talking. We also call what we go to on Sundays (a well organized event) “church”, when that name should be reserved for what Jesus died for… The Church.
Beautiful, Michael. This brought tears to my eyes.
I don’t remember the exact story. But there was a christian leader and author who had Brennan Manning for a spiritual director. He complained about the lack of his prayer life and how inadequate he felt. Brennan laughed and replied that this gentleman lived and breathed God. His thoughts were centered on God daily. This man was deeply rooted in God and discipleship to him in a very authentic way. Brennan saw this and called it prayer, even if it wasn’t in a formal traditional sense of prayer as we know it today.
I have been called to task over saying that public prayer is “pretty worthless.” Let me go on record as saying that public prayer does not have the same worth as private, personal prayer. We are told to enter our closet and close the door (in the passages Michael sites where Jesus warns about the abuses of public prayer). The example we see in Jesus is that he often goes off alone to pray; typically early in morning, often for hours at a time. In one of the few examples of a public Jesus prayer, he aknowledges that God always hears him, but is saying this prayer outloud so that the people can know he is the Son of God (refer to the resurrection of Lazrus).