I am studying prayer in a course I am taking right now. I am also in a season of frustration and disappointment with myself, and both of these things (learning to pray and frustration), lead to striving in my relationship with God and in my prayer life.

I was out walking yesterday in a state of striving and frustration when these four words popped into my head “the peace of Christ.” I kind of had a Homer Simpson revelatory moment as all that that phrase means to me flooded over me, and gave me peace again.

It was a Homer Simpson moment because I have spoken on the peace of Christ, written about the peace of Christ, and meditated for months on Colossians 3 that talks about letting the peace of Christ rule my heart, and yet I had forgotten about all that God has done for me, and the peace he provides, which is like no other. To quote Homer, “Doh!!!” I know I am kind of making fun of this moment, and maybe I shouldn't, because it was actually really cleansing, and powerful in a very gentle Godly way. Thank God for God. As I walked along a busy suburban street, I believe he reminded me of the unconditional peace he provides.

For me, nothing compares to God's peace and all that He has done for me - all of us actually. I can do all kinds of spiritual gymnastics, and meditation prayer exercises, but why should I when peace, and so much more, is provided to me through simple faith in Jesus Christ? Some people may mock (I was watching the Colbert Report yesterday and he was mocking the Christian Republican Presidential Candidates for their “Christian” stance on some of the issues) but ultimately, I find incomparable solace in what God has done for me through Jesus Christ. He has given me peace for now, and for eternity. He has forgiven me for running away from his love, over, and over, and over again. He has provided me with freedom from the shit that I choose to engage in that robs me of His peace.

Colossians 3:15 starts with the word "Let" or "allow" or "dip into" the peace of Christ. Am I still going to pray? Yes. Continually, hopefully. Until prayer is like breathing, BUT, I need to approach God with peace, faith, love, and with the confidence that comes from all that he has done for me and provides. In the context of this verse, prayer is allowing - through faith and practice - HIS LOVE, HIS PEACE and HIS WORDS to rule my body, and the body of Christ.

learning to pray: Read Colossians 3:1-17 a few times, …maybe more. More in this in the days ahead.

Praying For Others

Lately I have been moved to pray for people. Maybe it’s because of Christmas approaching and I am thinking about all the people in my life, or maybe it’s for some other reason. Don’t really know, don’t really care. The question is how do I pray for my friends and family? What do I pray?

This may be a little too formulaic for some people, but I like to follow an outline that I think Graham Cooke came up with. Graham’s written a booklet called “Crafted Prayer,” if you are interested http://www.brilliantbookhouse.com - – it’s brilliant (pun intended) Here's what I like to do:

1_ Think about the person you want to pray for. What are you thankful for? Thank God for them and the things that come to mind.
2_ Be silent. Be Still. Be open.
3_ What might Jesus be praying for them? Make this your prayer.
4_ What would you like to see the Holy Spirit do in their lives? How might he be praying for them? Make this your prayer.
5_ What would you like to see the Father do for them? How might he be praying for them? Make this your prayer.

learning to pray: who would you like to pray for right now? give the steps above a try.

Faith

Richard Rohr in the video series "Crisis of Faith" concerning Jesus:

I think he is saying I am willing to bear the burden of my own reality wherever it leads me. Never quite sure that it is right and that's why it's called faith. And that's why Jesus said when the Son of Man returns, will he find any faith on earth? I think Jesus really had doubts. Religion is common, it's on every street corner. Faith is very rare.

Two Questions

See if you recognize any difference in these two questions:

Question 1: What can I do to experience God?

Question 2: Where does God encounter me?

How do you feel about these questions?

Do you like one, or the other more?

What’s the difference?

Why does it matter? Does it matter?

Let me know what you think. Hit “Comments” below.

just pray

If I was to describe a place on a trail that I regularly go for walks on where you can see horses in the field with the Fraser River and Coastal Mountains rising up behind it all, it’s going to have extra feeling and meaning to you because you have been there before. If you haven’t been there and seen this lovely pastoral scene you might just shrug your shoulders and say, “sounds nice,” or worse yet you might just get bored and walk away. The best way to appreciate something, learn something, or experience something is go and see it and experience it for yourself.

The best way to learn how to pray - is to pray. When it comes to prayer, God and experience are the best teachers. As we engage ourselves in prayer, he will take us ever deeper into our hearts, and into his heart. As we pray we'll learn more and more about ourselves and about God. He will gradually teach us to pray, and transform our hearts and minds in the process.

I was reading James Finley's "merton's palace of nowhere" right on the heals of reading St. John of the Cross' "Living Flame of Love" for a course I am taking, and it hit me that I will never really understand what these guys are writing about unless I pray. They are describing places on a map that I have never been to. The little I can understand comes from my own experience with the Lord in prayer. Quite frankly the rest makes no sense at all!

Finley says that Merton once said to him:

the Church and the world do not need people to talk about prayer, think about prayer, write about prayer, nearly as much as they need people to pray.*

learning to pray: pray

* "merton's palace of nowhere" by James Finley

Perfection in Prayer

Prayer is not about perfecting a technique. I have had a tendency to focus on technique, or get frustrated when times of prayer are cluttered with mental distractions, or dryness. The danger in naming a blog "learning to pray" is that it can give the impression that prayer is something to be perfected. Prayer is part of a dynamic relationship with a living God. God never changes, but we do, therefore the way we pray and communicate with God and the way he communicates with us is never the same.

I want it to be clear that learning to pray is part of the process of transformation, and the fruit of this process is experiencing a loving God and loving others.

I know a lot of Christians like order, and I hate to disappoint them, but in my experience with the things of Spirit, Spirit is unpredictable and messy. Learning to pray is not a linear process and for some people the unpredictability of learning to pray is going to drive them nuts. It's so important not to judge each individual prayer time. We need to stay committed to the unpredictable, unfolding, process of transformation and grace that takes place when one commits oneself to learning to pray.

The way we pray will probably change over time. The way we pray is slightly different for everyone. No two Prayers are exactly the same! Go through the Bible sometime and look at all the different ways people prayed.

Daniel got down on his knees three times a day to pray. Peter prayed on his roof at lunch time. Jesus would disappear into the wilderness to pray. Ezekiel was told to lay on his left side for 390 days and then on his right side for 40 days!!!

If you are in a good groove, stick with it, but always be open to Spirit when you pray. I have discovered that the way, or ways I pray are unfolding as I have tried to listen to Spirit and tried things from authors and people I know are mature in their faith. It takes a lot of trial and error and openness to Spirit. It takes confidence in a loving God, who, as one author said in regard to prayer, loves us most of all, perhaps, when we try and fail.

A Good Story

One thing about the evangelical community is we love a good story. Heck, I love a good Kingdom story and hope to share a lot more of them here in this blog. I wish I could tell a lot of sensational stories week after week about how the heavens open up day after day and angels come and meet me as I pray, but it just wouldn’t be true.

The truth is I sit in my chair a couple of times day, and I struggle to stay present and open to God, and maybe for a few brief seconds, if I’m lucky, I know in my heart that I am in the loving presence of God. Most of the time not much happens as I pray that I am all that conscious of. The only thing I have to go on is my wife and my friends noticing that I have changed a little; that I seem to be a little more at peace, and a little happier. I have also noticed that I handle situations differently. Situations that caused me a lot of stress, or anger in the past, don’t seem to get to me as much as they used to, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Contemplative prayer has taught me to not buy the religious guilt trip any more. Whether it be over social justice, experiences of the Holy Spirit, reading my Bible more, evangelism, etc. Do miracles happen in my life, is it important to read my Bible, feed the poor, and tell others about the love of God? Yes, and in one way or the other I have been involved, or hope to be involved in all of these things in the future. Do I see evidence, and experience the Holy Spirit in my life? All the time, but I no longer cling to these experiences, and then tell other people they need to do this or that to be whole, or accepted by God. WE ARE ALL ACCEPTED AND LOVED BY GOD - PERIOD.

Prayer teaches me to let go of everything, including experience and religious guilt trips, and simply love God for who he is rather than what he can do for me. God loves me just as I am – weeds and wheat. Amazing kingdom stuff is going to happen, and is happening, but not because I force it to happen out of guilt and shame. It’s going to happen because God loves this broken world and he wants to share that love through me to whoever is open to it at any God ordained time.

I am “in the river” and good and bad stuff is happening all of the time, just like it did in the life of Jesus. Prayer teaches me how to handle it all more like him.

learning to pray: Let go of any religious guilt or shame.