Learning as we go.
There are elements of this, and any job, that require humility. One of these elements is teaching about spiritual practices when I feel like such an amateur myself. One never arrives at being an expert on prayer, and if you’ve ever met someone who you’d consider an expert, you can be quite sure that they don’t see themselves that way. So how do we learn to improve in the realm of prayer?
Start.
Here's a few tidbits I’ve been reminded of:
Asking - We will not get everything we ask for in prayer, but if we don’t pray, we won’t get what we don’t ask for. It is perfectly normal to begin praying by asking for things that you want and are concerned about. Don’t feel bad about this and not pray. Asking God for things that are important and meaningful to you is a sign of authenticity and honesty as you open up by sharing your concerns with God, just as you would with a friend. This leads to a deepening of the relationship and over time God may begin to transform the things you hold as important and meaningful. It’s a process. Trust grows. (see The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard)
Boldness – Sometimes we have weak prayers or don’t pray at all because we don’t want to experience the disappointment of not having our prayer answered the way we’d like. We can feel as though we haven’t seen many/any results so let’s not set ourselves up for disappointment. Or perhaps, you think I should not ask too much of God because there’s likely better things for him to do than address my requests and concerns. God has assured us that we are God’s children and we can come boldly with our requests to our Loving Lord. God has the wisdom needed to sort out what we need, don’t need, can handle, etc. Come to Jesus with your bold request in faith. Let us see what God might do! (The UnVarnished Jesus by Brian Zahnd)
Awareness – I have been growing in this area of awareness… as Brother Lawrence wrote about in his spiritual classic, “Practicing the Presence of God.” We can nurture an awareness of God with us throughout all parts of our day, whatever we are doing, and acknowledge God’s presence. We can whisper prayers as we work, drive, play, walk, visit, etc. One rabbi pointed out that the Old Testament name for God, Yahweh, is like the sound of breathing. Inhale – Yah, Exhale – Weh. What a reminder that God is present with us, God’s Spirit living in us even as we breath! In working to practice awareness, we adopt a posture of listening. We pause and ask, “Lord is there something you are saying to me?” Is there something you want me to see/hear/notice?” The Lord is honoured by the attention we learn to give him. It begins to move God up on our list of priorities.
May these areas that I’m learning in also encourage you and provide you with some ways of thinking about prayer that might shape the intimacy that is possible between you and your Creator!
Respectfully Yours,
Pastor Nate
P.S. What is one thing you’ve learned (or are learning) about prayer?