5:30 Coffee: Prayer for Beginners: Chapter Two- Part II

Friday, July 11, 2008

Prayer for Beginners: Chapter Two- Part II

Matthew 5:9, 45; Luke 6:35; John 1:12; Romans 8:14ff; Romans 9:26; 2 Corinthians 6:16-18; Galatians 3:26

The second motivation for prayer is because God commands it.

“We pray not simply as some solitary self-improvement program, but because we have been addressed by God. Prayer is a response to a prior divine invitation. No, ‘invitation’ is too weak. God commands us to pray, in fact to ‘pray constantly.’ (1 Thessalonians 5:17) He yearns and longs for us to pray more passionately than any earthly lover yearns for his beloved to turn her eyes and her attention to him.
We pray to obey God, not to ‘play God’. We pray, not to change God’s mind, but to change our own; not to command God, but to let Him command us. We pray to ‘let God be God.’”

This divine invitation is for relationship, and we see it in no better place than the beginning, the garden, when God formed man and woman, breathed life into them, and then, wonder of wonders, walked with them in the cool of the day. It seems this picture is lost; at least it is to me at times, too often in fact. My interaction with God becomes asking, which he’s told us to do. But it becomes only asking. It seems that what God was after with us from the beginning was relationship. We’re uniquely created for it, with Him and with each other.

Throughout scripture the picture is expanded. God is seeking after us for relationship, for a heart that longs for Him. The first chapter of Isaiah is a prime example. The people are jumping through the religious hoops day in and day out, but there’s no heart for relationship with Him. He is simply dissatisfied with their religion because it’s not what he’s after. God is, after all, not looking for subjects as much as he is looking for sons and daughters to whom He desperately wishes to give an inheritance of all sorts of good things. (Matthew 5:9, 45; Luke 6:35; John 1:12; Romans 8:14ff; Romans 9:26; 2 Corinthians 6:16-18; Galatians 3:26)

I’ve been reading Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller. He’s a thoughtful and funny writer (you should read one of his books Blue Like Jazz is popular). I came across this thought there, “The God of the Bible seemed to be brokenhearted over the separation in our relationship and downright obsessed with mending the tear.” And a bit later on, “I realized that Jesus was always, and I mean always, talking about love, about people, about relationship, and He never once broke anything into steps or formulas. What if, because we were constantly trying to dissect His message, we were missing a blatant invitation? I began to wonder if becoming a Christian did not work more like falling in love than agreeing with a list of true principles.” (Chapter 3, pp 45, 46).

3 comments:

MoLak Jedi said...: I listened to an interview of Dr. Kreeft regarding this book and basically he summed it up this way, "If you want to learn about prayer, the best way to do so is to simply pray. There's no magic formula, no book, no model that'll do it for you." One of the cool things about prayer is that you're not babbling to the air or the furniture or the walls around you. You are actually talking and listening to the greatest teacher on prayer (or on any subject, for that matter) ever! If we take the time to do it, he'll meet us there and be with us, which leads me to believe that prayer is a lot about submission - submission to his commandment to pray, submission to his call for us to leave the things buzzing around in our brains behind for the sake of this conversation, submission to his desire to see us die for the sake of resurrection.
I'm not good at prayer, but it's not because I don't know how to pray, it's because I don't take the time to do it. I don't take the time to submit or die.; July 11, 2008 at 1:37 PM
John J. Roberts said...: Hey Chris,

Thanks for writing! There's no question about the gist of the book... and you've got it... rather I guess... Kreeft gave it to you.

I'm with you; I think of myself in the same way in regard to prayer. There are some great chapters later in the book, however, regarding "Jesus the simplist prayer" and some other ideas that really hit me. He gets into the sacramental nature of simply praying "Jesus" which we miss in our evangelical protestant culture. It's not surprising to find that given Kreeft's theology.

Time! I guess it's not making the time huh? It's taking some of the time that we have to pray... and using the moments we might not normally think of as praying moments.; July 12, 2008 at 1:03 PM
MoLak Jedi said...: I haven't prayed the name of Jesus very much (Tony Campolo starts every day out by doing this, I guess). The Jesus prayer ("Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner") is something I've prayed quite a bit, though. When I notice I'm being judgemental or harsh or contemplating a sin or needing to repent of sin, rolling this prayer over and over and over again until I'm centered in the Lord's presence with him in his place and me in my place. Emily and I pray the Lord's Prayer every night as well. In a lot of the marriage stuff out there's this idea of asking your spouse how they'd like to be loved and then do that. If Jesus says that this is the best way to talk to God, then we should do it. Again, I find meditating on the words really opens me to the reality of God's presence at that time and place. (There isn't much meditation going on with Em, though :0) I once had a friend who said something about savoring your food and I think that's the way it needs to be with praying these ready made prayers.
When I first became a Christian, I thought prayer had to be this really long and drawn out thing, like taking a girl on a date (which probably says a lot about why I didn't date at all!) But, if prayer is conversing and communing with God, then it doesn't always have to be this big deal. In college, a young woman once talked about arrow-prayers or something like that. They were the prayers you say as you're going along in life. I had a roommate once who used to say stuff like, "Jesus, where'd the peanut butter go?" He wasn't cursing, but actually having a conversation with Jesus about stuff like peanut butter that would usually end with, "Praise God! There's the peanut butter!" My point is, I'm good at praying through out the day as different issues come up. I'm lousy at having the sort of time where my heart touches God's heart and my world is changed.; July 12, 2008 at 2:39 PM

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Life and Ministry

I've been alive for 46 years... I know that's not much compared to some people, but it's enough that I realize I'm on the downhill side, probably, unless I live past 92! That would be interesting I think. Otherwise, however, I'm at a point of deep reflection... how will the rest be spent. I've been in the same spot for 20 years now, doing pretty much the same work, so it's time for serious evaluation.

There are two things that have challenged my thinking... one old, one new. First, the 9th stage of Eric Erikson's psycho-social development; "Integrity vs. Despair." It struck me twenty some years ago. Erikson basically says that there will be a time when you will begin to reflect on your life and you will conclude that it's been a life full of good decisions and directions, and work done well - if that's the case you'll come away with a sense of integrity; your life has had meaning and purpose. If on the other hand you look back and see that it's been filled with missed chances and squandered opportunities you'll have a sense of despair. I want my reflection to lead me to integrity!

Second, I had a class on 2 Timothy this summer at Regent College with Earl Palmer. He and I had lunch one day and it was just a great encouragement. He said to me, "Never think of yourself as old... I'm nearing 80 and I don't think of myself as old! You have lots of life ahead of you... your most productive years! Realize that you are young and God has alot of stuff for you to do!"

Looking forward!
John

Book Reviews

Are Women Human (Dorothy Sayers): This little book (about 80 pages at most) is a lot of fun, but also profound. It's actually a compilation of two essays - I think both lectures - which Sayers gave around 1938 to a women's group in London. They wanted her to talk about the importance of feminism – which she didn’t want to talk about specifically. She's very fun to read... very British... very to the point... very intelligent and articulate. I read it as preparation for the sermon series in 2 Timothy because I'm trying to think of Paul's treatment of women and this book was suggested to me by Earl Palmer (University Presbyterian - Seattle) at a class I recently took from him. Here, in my estimation, is the essence of Sayer's view, "Women should be doing everything they're gifted to do... but not in order to prove that they can do what men can do. There are fundamental differences between men and women; they're made for different things. If you have to choose between a woman or a man to do a certain task you should choose the one who is best at that task. It gives our lives meaning to do what we're good at... it honors God to do what we're made for. A woman shouldn't become a mechanic to prove that women can be mechanics... nor should she be kept from mechanics because she is a woman. Great treatment of the subject I thought. My view of Paul and women, incidentally, is that he thought very highly of them. He speaks specifically in a coupe places about them being silent, but then talks all over the place about their roles as prophets, teachers, deacons, and "outstanding among the apostles." I take his specific instructions about women and silence to be a specific address to a specific problem. Barth says, "There are no NT letters apart from the troubles of the NT church." He's right about that.
Searching for God Knows What (Donald Miller): Miller is great... his writing style is interesting and very conversational. A little too conversational at times for me. But I love to be challenged by what he's saying, both in this book, and "Blue like Jazz" which is also enjoyable, and challenges some ideas that we have about life, faith, and church. Miller makes me laugh at one moment, and then get very serious the next. Honestly, I howled with laughter during the first chapter, "Fine Wine: The Failure of Formulas." He gave me cause to think anew about Shakespeare’s Play, "Romeo and Juliet." I have to go back and reread it... it's been way too long. Here's a bit of a summary statement for the book, from chapter one: "I realized the gospel of Jesus, I mean the essence of God's message to mankind, wasn't a bunch of hoops we needed to jump through to get saved, and it wasn't a series of ideas we had to agree with either; rather, it was an invitation, an invitation to know God."
Before I Go: Letters to Our Children About What Really Matters (Peter Kreeft):Before I Go: Letters to Our Children about What Really Matters (Peter Kreeft): This is simply a delightful little book. I don't mean "little" in a way to demean it... rather it reads like a little book. There are 161 short letters, from a couple sentences to a couple pages of advice that Kreeft is leaving mostly for his children. Here is a quote from #23, Sacred Time: "Visit a church at least once a week and just spend five minutes in the real presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, just adoring Him. He came a long way for this meeting: all the way from heaven. And He brought you a long way for this meeting: all the way from nothingness, out of which he created you. He thinks this meeting is that important. And you don't? Which one of the two of you do you think has it right?" I love the sacredness of Kreeft's Catholicism. I like his writing. This book is full of good stuff. It's been especially meaningful to me since I'm preaching through 2 Timothy which is Paul's "Last Words" -- literally.
Playing for Pizza (John Grisham): Nothing profound here, but it's an enjoyable read. Maybe I'd classify this as a "feel good" novel. It's not going to change the world, but it's a story with some redemption, victory, set mostly in Parma, Italy. There is some interesting information here about various parts of Italy. Story is an NFL Quarterback, Rick Dockery, who can't seem to make it in the NFL, and ends up playing in the Italian NFL, for the Parma Panthers. They're putting all their hopes on him to win the Italian Superbowl! In the end... Easy read about 260 pages.
Fish!: This is a great little book,sort of expensive for the size of the book, less than a hundred pages. This book is really helpful for getting refocused on how to be a positive influence in a "toxic energy dump."
Real Sex (Lauren Winner): I really like Winner's writing. Heard her speak at the National Pastor's Conference in '07... she's fun. I read another of her books, Mudhouse Sabbath, which I loved. I think you should read this very articulate and frank discussion of Sex within the faith framework. Read it.
Velvet Elvis (Rob Bell): Thought provoking look at the church, faith, and the journey. I'm not crazy about Bell's writing style, but readable, and challenging ideas. I'd recommend it. If the church doesn't stay relevant it will end up the like the "Velvet Elvis" painting Bell found in the basement of his house... obsolete.
His Dark Materials (Philip Pullman): I read the trilogy (The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass) as well as Lyra's Oxford. As advertised the books are hard on "the Church" but that's to be expected from Pullman's atheism. The books were a fun read, we're reading them to our boys now. Good opportunity for dialogue about important ideas. Lyra's Oxford was disappointing, and very short. Few observations: (1) "The Church" is probably a little too exercised about this series. (2) I think "killing God" is a little too strong a description of what happens. (3) I think it's very interesting, given Pullman's atheism, that there is so much metaphysical stuff in this series. (4) If you haven't read the books or seen the movie... see the movie first... they foul up everything in the movie which makes it difficult to enjoy if you've read the books. Trilogy books are around 250 pages. Fun, but definitely not The Lord of the Rings, or The Chronicles of Narnia... not close.
Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck): This is a classic that I'd never read until recently. It's a very interesting portrayal of friendship, caring, and loyalty. It's accessible, and about 90 pages. Glad I read it.

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Friday, July 11, 2008

Prayer for Beginners: Chapter Two- Part II

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