The beauty and variety of prayer
Pastor Bryan has been preaching a series on “Conversations with God,” exploring great stories of prayer. Prayer is a central part of the biblical narratives and the one common element found in all religions. In short, prayer is important to our faith and growth as we walk with God.
Prayer is a vital part of the Christian experience. In fact, we could say it is the central element of our faith. It is wrongly assumed that all Christians practice regular prayer. One reason Christians do not pray is that few Christians are taught to pray. Most Christians simply model themselves after prayers they hear voiced by others. Most spoken prayers fall into the following categories: Petition (requests), Thanksgiving, and Intercession. These three types of prayer are important to our journey and relationship with God and others; however, they are the starting place, the most basic forms of prayer. The first two are generally self-focused, which reflects our new faith and first steps as Christians. As we mature, we may start intercessory prayer. I am not critical of these early steps in the Christian walk. What I want to point out is that for many Christians, prayer never moves beyond the basics. We achieve the first element of prayer, talking, but struggle with the second, which is listening.
The first step when we come to Christ is to learn to speak with him. Too often, we make this first step overly complicated. We don't need a special voice or language, place, or posture. We simply need to speak to God as we would speak to a friend. Prayer is the spiritual conversational element of our relationship with God. What is on your heart? What are you struggling with in life? What are you concerned about? We should also be exploring questions like: How can You use me to touch others with Your love? What can I do to live more fully into the principles of the gospel? Open my imagination to new ways to change the world for the better. Show me the needs of others so that I can express Your love. Challenge my assumption with Your grace that I may grow in my faith. Prayers of silence are when we sit with God and allow the Lord to speak to us, inspire our imaginations, dream dreams, see visions and find direction. These are steps in a maturing faith that are reflected in our prayers.
The great Quaker writer Richard Foster wrote a wonderful book, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home, which explores 16 different types of prayer. I used his book for years teaching spiritual formation classes. This fall, we will offer a Prayer Retreat that will focus on exploring new types of prayer. We will discuss and practice a variety of prayers. Some are simple and surprisingly easy to start, while others are more complex. The goal is to expose Christians to a greater tradition of prayer. People struggle to pray, often because they were never taught the beauty and variety of prayer. Just talk to God and God will respond.
Steve Lewis