Ways of Prayer - "Who is like you, O Lord?"
Some time ago, a former Prime minister of our nation got into a bit of trouble when he was overheard to utter the name of our Lord as some said "in vain". He retorted that he was actually offering an involuntary prayer. His detractors found it hard to believe, perhaps impossible to believe. But how do we judge? How much do any of us understand about our own prayer lives let alone the prayer life of another? Jesus in the midst of the pressure of his ministry put lines through his diary and headed for the hills for some time in prayer. "He went away to a quiet place to pray." Apparently he did not go far enough away. His disciples found him and told him to tell him that his appointment book was full. Enough of this solitary escapism, time to get back into the real world. People were in need of Jesus teaching, healing presence.
This relationship between prayer and action is a tension for me and I suspect for many of us. What is prayer and more specifically, what is prayer for us? Each of us will have our own answers for this question. There are guide posts that the Church has provided for us, beginning with Scripture and enriched by centuries of faithful tradition. We would be much the poorer to leave the development of our prayer life either to those times when we hit our thumbs with hammers, or when tragedy strikes. Though these times are times for prayer too, an ever deepening relationship with God demands a more sustained approach. Those sign posts I mentioned are adoration, confession, intercession, petition and thanksgiving.
Adoration
"Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in splendour, doing wonders?" Exodus 15:11 NRSV
Though we may sometimes talk of adoring a loved one, adoration properly belongs to God alone. To adore means to be caught up with the reality of God’s nature. No matter how intensely we know, feel or discern God’s presence the reality is that God is greater than our thoughts, emotions or intuitions. God’s love is greater than any love that we could experience. God’s compassion is greater than any care we could be shown. God’s providence is greater than any generosity we could receive. In the face of such reality the only true response is that of adoration.
In times of true adoration words fall short. There are other languages we use to communicate for example, body language or gesture. When lost in adoration people use gesture as well as or instead of words in response. Luke records Peter’s early encounter with Jesus. After hauling in the miraculous catch of fish Peter falls at Jesus feet with words ’Depart from me master for I am a sinful man.’ And Matthew writes of the disciples as they met their resurrected Lord: ’Suddenly Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!" And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him.’ (Mat 28:9 NRSV). Other forms of gesture indicating adoration are bowing, kneeling, genuflecting and making the sign of the cross. That is one reason we offer the gestures we do in worship - prayer is more than words.
Adoration is about losing oneself in the awe and wonder of God, but this response does not mean that we become insignificant as a result. the New Testament tells us that in losing ourselves we find ourselves. This is the way to find one’s self - beginning in a relationship of adoration of God.
Confession
"You have heard that it was said, ’You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous." Matt. 5:43-45 NRSV
No one could deny the reality of sin. Some might try to call it by another name, some times we avoid responsibility for our sins as we delve into our genetic make up and our environmental influences but as Christians who have glimpsed God in adoration we could not deny that we fall short of God’s hopes for us. We even fall short of our hopes and dreams for ourselves and each other! We cannot bear the guilt of this reality in its entirety, and we are not meant to! as one writer puts it:
"Yet if I am forever hag ridden by guilt, I shall be tormented into the grave, and shall be useless as a human being. What is more, I may sink into even worse sin, for it is often the person overwhelmed by a sense of guilt who commits the crime." (Gordon S. Wakefield)
Through Christ we know that we can come before God and seek forgiveness. In worship we are provided with a prayer of confession. In that prayer we are reminded of God our maker and our judge, we admit that we have sinned both by commission (what we have done) in thought word and deed, and omission, the things we have failed to do. We face up to the fact that we have failed to fulfil the great commandments to love God and each other and therefore we say, "Father forgive us."
The absolution follows. In the Anglican tradition, the pronouncement of the absolution has been set aside as the responsibility of the priest or bishop. Why? It is not because it is the priest who forgives but because priestly absolution is a sign by which we, the Church, proclaim loud and clear our faith that God forgives. We know that we can and must ask for God’s forgiveness in our private devotions, we can and should ask the forgiveness of others when appropriate, but when we are together the absolution is proclaimed by the priest or bishop as a sign of the authority to proclaim the forgiveness of God given to his followers by Jesus.
Thanksgiving
St Paul’s writings contain several outbursts of thanksgiving, for example: "First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the world." Roman 1.8 We might think it natural to give thanks to God for the gift of life and all that flows from that gift, but remember the story of the 10 lepers. The only one who returned to show gratitude was a foreigner not a Jew. How easily we can accept the blessings that come our way as our due or reward. How quickly too we can blame God when things don’t go our way. Thanksgiving is an important part of Christian worship and devotion and finds its focus as Jesus gives thanks over the bread and wine before he shares it as his body and blood commanding us to do likewise. As Christ gave thanks on the night he was betrayed so we are reminded by St Paul to - "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thess. 5.16-18
Intercession
To intercede is to pray with, for and on behalf of another person. What is it that we expect to happen when we pray in this way? Doesn’t God already know what the trouble is - even better than we do? Certainly, but our love and concern for the world and our loved ones within suggests it is better to pour out our concerns out to God than discuss theological detail. Not that we might manipulate or even merely communicate but that we take the opportunity to be along side both God and the sufferers in time of need. In intercession God has already shown us the way. God sent God’s son among us. Jesus was born as one of us, he was baptised as one of us, he prayed to his father in heaven for us. "Father I pray that they might be one even as we are one." John 17. We intercede because we are concerned for others as Jesus was concerned for us. No where in the New Testament is the importance of intercession made clearer than in the epistle of James:
"Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. James 5.13-17
Petition
The prayer of petition is the prayer where we ask for something. For some this is what prayer is all about. There is perhaps something in our nature that tends towards this form of prayer. In some ways it is close to magic - the right actions will appease the God’s and get the right results. A Navaho, a Hopi and an Apache were speaking about how powerful their prayers were. The Navaho said, "We Navaho’s pray for healing, and the patient gets well about half the time." The Hopi said Well we pray for rain and it rains about seventy percent of the time." "Yes," said the Apache, "But we have a sunrise dance, and it works every time."
Others think petitionary prayer selfish and arrogant. God knows our needs there must be a reason if we lack something, they might say. These people need to be reminded that the Lord’s prayer is this type of prayer. In the Lord’s prayer we ask for among other things forgiveness and our daily bread. Even though our attitude to God is rightly one of adoration God wants to relate to us as children relate to parents. "Our Father," we are taught to pray. To bring our needs and desires before God is an important part of our relationship with God. Many people seem intent on receiving answers to their prayers - even if that answer is no! God has created a universe that does not allow each individual their every desire. More than that hardship, pain, grief and disappointment are human experiences that we cannot avoid by prayer. It is through our prayer we can better cope with life’s pain. Yes, but not just better cope or survive, but live thought to a resurrection experience.
Jesus went away to a quiet place to pray. He did this in the midst of the activity of his mission. May we follow his example and in the midst of busy lives find time to be with God in prayer.
References
"Prayer", A Dictionary of Christian Spirituality, Gordon S. Wakefield (ed.) SCM Press:London, 1983.
Paul J Wharton, "Stories and Parables for Preachers and teachers," Paulist Press:New York, 1986.
