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Considering Prayer
Pastor Mike Cloud
Over the course of my life I have
endeavored to grow in my understanding and
practice of prayer. I have read many authors
who have discussed, taught and practiced prayer
themselves. Throughout this time I collected
various Scriptures and prayer concepts from this
reading. Take some time to think about and
meditate on the questions, Scriptures and
thoughts about prayer that are presented here.
Why do I pray – REALLY?
“Prayer is listening to (God’s) voice—to the One
who calls you the beloved. It is to constantly
go back to the truth of who we are and claim it
for ourselves. I am NOT what I do. I am NOT
what people say about me. I am NOT what I
have…my spiritual identity is NOT rooted in the
world or the things the world gives me. My life
is rooted in my spiritual identity.” Henri
Nouwen; The Only Necessary Thing; page 67
“Lord, teach us to pray.”
(Luke 11:1) We need to see that we need Jesus
help in order to pray. The Holy Spirit moved in
the disciples’ hearts to draw them nearer. We
must be taught by Jesus on how to converse with
God.
Learn to pray by stretching your heart
out toward God.
“Genuine prayer comes only after serious
reflection.” The Cloud of Unknowing; page 83
I am seeking in prayer to be instructed in
Jesus, by Jesus and for Jesus.
We learn language by being spoken to. Do we
learn the language of prayer by God speaking to
us?
Prayer comes only after serious reflection on
God’s Word.
“Prayer means nothing else but the readiness to
appropriate the Word, to let it speak to me in
my personal situations, in my particular tasks,
decisions, sins and temptations.” Dietrich
Bonhoeffer; A Year with Dietrich Bonhoeffer;
page 26
“Prayer is never the first word, it is the
second word. God has the first word and prayer
is answering speech. It is not primarily
address, but response.” Eugene Peterson;
Working the Angles; pages 45
Prayer is nothing more that attentiveness to
God’s presence.
The reflection of the trees in the lake was so
clear, almost like a picture. “Be like this,”
God seemed to say, “When you are still before me
then you can reflect me.” Desert Experience,
page 11
Recovering spirituality is recovering our
ability to hear God.
Do I pray only with my mouth or thoughts, OR do
I pray with all my mind, all my heart, all my
strength and all my feelings?
“True prayer is the lifting up of the mind to
God in love, interior longing for and humble
submission to Him…True prayer raises the heart
so that God can come into this innermost place,
the most distant, intimate and noble part of our
being, the seat of our unity…When this happens
one is no longer troubled by anything. We are
recollected, quiet and really ourselves…for God
is within us reigning and working in the depths
of our souls.” John Tauler; The Christian
Mystics of the Middle Ages; page 84
“The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and
His ear attentive to their prayer.” (1 Peter
3:12)
The power of prayer is in the one who hears, not
in the one who prays – Max Lucado
Do I know how to take refuge in prayer?
Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do
nothing; those who dwell in me as I dwell in
them bear much fruit.” [John 15:5]
“Dwelling in Jesus is what prayer is all about …
when our concerns no longer flow from our
personal encounter with the living Christ, we
feel oppressive weight.” Henri Nouwen; The
Only Necessary Thing; page 34
There is a method of inward prayer:
1.
Place yourself in God’s presence.
2.
Seek God’s help –
a.
Act like God is present
b.
Recognize that God is in your heart and spirit
3.
Prostrate your soul before God – “Let your face
shine upon your servant.”
4.
This type of prayer will deepen our love for God
and neighbor, increase our longing for heaven,
give us a zeal for the lost, seek to imitate the
life of Jesus, give us awe, joy, peace,
confidence IN God and His goodness and mercy,
and a true sorrow for our sins.
ADAPTED
From Introduction to a Devout Life;
Francis DeSales; pages 73-78
The Practice of His Presence:
1.
Invite the Holy Spirit to fall upon you.
2.
Seek God’s grace
3.
Renounce all that is not of God in your life.
4.
Seek a continual conversation with God.
5.
Recognize that God is present.
6.
Seek His will
7.
Ask for help to do rightly all He asks of you.
“What is the point of being carried away with
prayer while still be carried along by ignoble
earthly affections? Why be above yourself in
prayer and beneath yourself in daily living?”
Francis DeSales; Living Love; page 67
“Jesus prayed because He loved His
father…childlike candor, boundless trust, easy
familiarity, deep reverence, joyful obedience,
unflagging dependence, unmistakable tenderness
and an innate sense of belonging characterized
Jesus’ prayer.” Brennan Manning; A Glimpse
of Jesus; page 84
“Go to prayer with a desire to please God
NOT to draw delight from it.”
Jean-Pierre DeCassaude; Fire of
Divine Love; page 114
Real prayer comes from the heart – Henri Nouwen;
The Way of the Heart; page 71
“Prayer is the act by which we divest ourselves
of all false belongings and become free to
belong to God…We want to move closer to God, the
source and goal of our existence, but at the
same time we realize that the closer we come to
God the stronger will be God’s demand to let go
of the many ‘safe’ structures we have built
around ourselves. Prayer is such a radical act
because it requires us to criticize our whole
way of being in the world, to lay down our old
selves and accept our new self, which is
Christ.” Henri Nouwen; The Only Necessary
Thing; page 39
“Jesus said, ‘Apart from me you can do
nothing; those who dwell in me as I dwell in
them bear much fruit’ [John 15:5]. Dwelling
in Jesus is what prayer is all about…When our
concerns no longer flow from our personal
encounter with the living Christ, we feel
oppressive weight.” Henri Nouwen; The Only
Necessary Thing; page 34
“The meaning of prayer is the expression of the
life of the Holy Spirit in us.” Henri Nouwen;
The Only Necessary Thing; page 57
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