ICON OF ST SERAPHIM PRAYING.FROM JOHN WESLEY'S -- On Christian Perfection
God's command to "pray without ceasing" is founded on the necessity we have of his grace to preserve the life of God in the soul, which can no more subsist one moment without it, than the body can without air.Whether we think of; or speak to, God, whether we act or suffer for him, all is prayer, when we have no other object than his love, and the desire of pleasing him. All that a Christian does, even in eating and sleeping, is prayer, when it is done in simplicity, according to the order of God, without either adding to or diminishing from it by his own choice.
Prayer continues in the desire of the heart, though the understanding be employed on outward things. In souls filled with love, the desire to please God is a continual prayer.
As the furious hate which the devil bears us is termed the roaring of a lion, so our vehement love may be termed crying after God.
God only requires of his adult children, that their hearts be truly purified, and that they offer him continually the wishes and vows that naturally spring from perfect love. For these desires, being the genuine fruits of love, are the most perfect prayers that can spring from it.
One of the great pastoral mysteries is prayer, especially petitionary prayer. In the Church, all acknowledge its importance, yet few practice it regularly. One wonders, why.
Some might decry the laxness in prayer as evidence of spiritual ennui; and it might certainly be. Others could complain of the lack of pastoral instruction to the faithful about how to pray; such would not be far afield.
I suggest that one reason that we fail to pray is that we have no real theology of prayer. There are all kinds of postions, of course. The "name-it-and-claim-it" crowd, if they have an operative theology, seem to assume that God sits back and awaits our instructions, because he desires to be instructed to bless us. In the past few years, Open Theism -- much more theological than the previously mentioned crew, has suggested that God's will is underdetermined regarding the future, because the future is non-existing and hence radically open. Human prayerful interaction with God does make a vast difference.
On the other hand, there are another set of Christians who hold a diametrically opposite view; our prayers change nothing about God's actions, as all that God has determined to do God will do. In this senario, prayer is more about aligning our wills to God's than making actual petition. And lastly there are those who simply say, it is a mystery. Well, no doubt............
So, I am wondering, how would we best begin to articulate a theology of prayer? As I see it, there are at least four related theological/pastoral issues that must be addressed. First, what is the character of God's providence, i.e. how determined is it? Second, what role are human persons designed to play in God's providential oversight, as bearers of God's image with a role of shepherding creation for him(Genesis 1-2)? Third, how does the Church understand itself in the work of redemption in the world, since Jesus (at least in John's Gospel) suggests that the Church would "do what he had been doing," and "could ask in his name" and expect the Father to hear and answer? Fourth, how does our eschatology inform our concepts of prayer and its efficacy?
I'll be posting on this issue during this next week or so, but I would love to have a bit of a conversation among the few of you who read my ramdom and eclectic musings from time to time. Until later. . .
4 comments:
Steve,
I have been mulling over the questions of the nature of prayer and why we pray (at least petitionally). I am teaching a Sunday School class on prayer right now but have also been going over this ground out of my own desire to have a more developed theology of prayer. I agree that one reason our practice of prayer is less than it should be is due to that lack.
I think I understand a little bit about why we confess, worship and offer thanks. I am looking forward to your reflections as to why we offer petition.
Jason Kranzusch
This does sound like an interesting series of posts. I'll reading too. You taught me long ago that the greatest way to cherish and appreciate mystery is to meditate and think upon it.
Thanks, guys. I'll look forward to your input, as well.
haughey6,
Thanks for checking out the site.
About what you call written prayers. Prayers should of course come from the heart in order to be real prayer. Any practice that merely repeats words would be recitation not praying. However, that does not mean that the words would have to originate in my own mind. I could genuinely pray a prayer that was passed on to me by the Church. I would, of course, have to give myself to the prayer. This practice would be similar to what many of us do when we sing hymns or songs of praise. Those are someone else's words in a sense. But, the thoughts, feelings, and commitment they express capture us and we can, then, accept them and make them our own as we sing.
But, just as one can sing the words to a great hymn and not really mean them, so can one pray a prayer that is written and not mean it. Also, people might say "what is on their hearts" and not really be praying about what they ought to.
So, I think that written prayers can be helpful, but all prayer written or as ;you say "from the heart" must really lead me to say to God what I should be saying.
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