HINTS FOR PRAYER
"Prayer is friendship with God. Friendship is not formal, but it is not formless: it has its cultivation, its behavior, its obligations, even its disciplines; and the casual mind kills it. So we offer here, as a guide-map not as a chain, a simple regimen of private prayer." - George A. Buttress
Many people don't pray simply because they don't know how. The following is a sort of guideline for what a time of private prayer might look like. These "Hints for Prayer" have been adapted from George A Buttrick's book "Prayer" (Read this book!!).
1) Begin in Silent Preparation:
Start your prayer time by quieting your heart and meditating upon God. Say to yourself, "His light fills the world. It fills this room."
2) Make an Act of Faith:
"In this initial silence of prayer we say to ourselves that whatever we ask 'in the nature of Christ' is ours, granted only our earnestness in prayer and life." Take these words literally and step out in faith and trust that God hears and answers prayer.
3) Start with Thanksgiving:
Deliberately call to mind the joys of the journey. Be very specific. Thank God both for the blessings of the day as well as for His continual blessings. Resolve to leave your prayer time with an attitude of gratitude.
4) Confess:
Be honest about your wrongs; be neither overly aggressive nor casually indifferent towards your sin. Again, be very specific. Accept God's forgiveness; let your sins be forgiven. Resolve to walk away from your sin and towards a new life.
5) Pray for Others:
Be mindful of who your neighbors are. Be specific. Call to mind individual faces, not a mass of people. In this, you should start with your enemies, then for leaders, the needy, your friends and loved ones. Pray daringly: be resolved to move and act in love in response to your own prayers.
6) Pray for Yourself:
Be honest and specific. Trust that God wants to hear and respond to your prayers for your own life. Allow God's will, not your own, to be done.
7) End in Reflective Adoration and Trust
A special note: At all intervals, your prayers should be filled with listening meditation. Listen at least as much as you speak; ideally you will listen more.
Many people don't pray simply because they don't know how. The following is a sort of guideline for what a time of private prayer might look like. These "Hints for Prayer" have been adapted from George A Buttrick's book "Prayer" (Read this book!!).
1) Begin in Silent Preparation:
Start your prayer time by quieting your heart and meditating upon God. Say to yourself, "His light fills the world. It fills this room."
2) Make an Act of Faith:
"In this initial silence of prayer we say to ourselves that whatever we ask 'in the nature of Christ' is ours, granted only our earnestness in prayer and life." Take these words literally and step out in faith and trust that God hears and answers prayer.
3) Start with Thanksgiving:
Deliberately call to mind the joys of the journey. Be very specific. Thank God both for the blessings of the day as well as for His continual blessings. Resolve to leave your prayer time with an attitude of gratitude.
4) Confess:
Be honest about your wrongs; be neither overly aggressive nor casually indifferent towards your sin. Again, be very specific. Accept God's forgiveness; let your sins be forgiven. Resolve to walk away from your sin and towards a new life.
5) Pray for Others:
Be mindful of who your neighbors are. Be specific. Call to mind individual faces, not a mass of people. In this, you should start with your enemies, then for leaders, the needy, your friends and loved ones. Pray daringly: be resolved to move and act in love in response to your own prayers.
6) Pray for Yourself:
Be honest and specific. Trust that God wants to hear and respond to your prayers for your own life. Allow God's will, not your own, to be done.
7) End in Reflective Adoration and Trust
A special note: At all intervals, your prayers should be filled with listening meditation. Listen at least as much as you speak; ideally you will listen more.
posted by Journey Church at 6:36 p.m.
1 Comments:
Wow! God really does work in misterious ways! It was just this past week that my small group and I actually reflected on the language of prayer and your blog seemed to reaffirm some of the dynamics we had discussed.
That being said, we were particularily drawn to a prayer practce that Rosalind Rinker outlines:
1. Jesus is here (Mattew 18:19-20)
2. Help me, Lord (James 5:13-16)
3. Thank you, Lord (Philippians 4:4-7)
4. Help my brother (Mark 11:22-25)
Silence has always been a motive for my own experience of God's presence. It always bothers me that to often we seek him out on our own terms without waiting, without allowing him the time to respond, and without waiting for that response to come on his own terms. I sometimes wonder if by doing this, are we not praying to HIM at all?
Anyways, great reflections Chris. Here is a poam I read in Yancey's new book 'Prayer: Does it make a difference?'
First forgive the silence
That answers prayers,
Then forgive the prayer
That stains the silence.
Excuse the absence
That feels like presence,
Then excuse the feeling,
That insists on presence.
Pardon the delay
Of revelation,
Then ask pardon for revealing
Your impatience.
Forgive God
For being only a word,
Then ask God to forgive
The betrayal of language.
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