- A precondition for prayer is a sense of need; i.e., there must be a desire for either personal or situational transformation. Its not hard to pray when the plane we're on is hijacked (cf. Lisa Beamer's, A Reason for Hope} or when the we lie beneath the rubble of the World Trade Center (cf. Oliver Stone's excellent film The World Trade Center. But we don't live in perpetual crisis.
- The desired outcome must be conceived as something beyond one's own capacity to perform or effectuate.
- Prayerlessness, therefore, arises from a shallow contentment with things as they are or a chronically low set of expectations regarding the need for personal (internal) or situational (external) transformation.
- Herein lies the genius of utilizing the pattern of the Lord's prayer. In it we are reminded of our great and continuing need for sustenance, forgiveness and protection.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Remembering Our Need: A Stimulus to Prayer
I just began a series of sermons on the Lord's Prayer. One of the issues I am grappling with again is the question of how to awaken and develop a sustained passion for prayer. This is both a pastoral and a personal concern. Here are a few preliminary thoughts. I welcome your comments. (You may have tried to leave a comment on an earlier post and been sent away for lack of registration. I think I now have it set so that anyone may leave a comment. Please do. You may also use the link provided to e-mail me.)
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2 comments:
Thank-you!
As I am currently in a quest to reconnect with my spirituality, I find this blog of particular interest. Prayer is a difficult concept for me because of my "religious", though not necessarily "spiritual" upbringing. I hold onto such a strong concept of prayer being directed to a Supreme Being, ("God", I was taught)outside of myself and with that brings a concept of "deserving" (or not) the response I want. My current thought is that what I need and deserve in my life are in abundant supply and I access it through a life of service and love and a belief that it already exists. I don't need to ask for it - I need to connect with it. Since I have such difficulty with the word "prayer", I use "meditation". I suspect in times of great need, I would still be tempted to think in terms of prayer however. I will end this with one example of why perhaps I have the difficulty I do with some of the "religious" lessons I was taught in my formative youth. My minister did not like me (and a few others in my confirmation class). I was too much of a free spirit I guess and a bit too wild. Although I was a very "spiritual" child, I admit my teen years were less than spiritual. Being told by my minister, however, that I was in no uncertain terms "going to hell" and might as well not even try, probably was not what "God" would have wanted Pastor Esse to say!
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