Add to Your Asking

The most basic kind of prayer is asking for something for yourself. It is quite natural. The New Testament even encourages it quite a bit: “Ask, and it shall be given…For everyone who ask, receives,”  “You have not because you ask not,” “whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours.”  Then there are a couple of stories where someone is so persistent and obnoxious that they end up getting what they keep asking for.

This is where the discussion arises – “Does prayer really work?” So if  I ask God for stuff or to do something for me, does he actually hear me and do it? Does he intervene in my life story when I want him to? It doesn’t take much life experience to deduce that in reality, it really doesn’t work this way, at least not as often as we would like.  If we are honest, I think we could all come up with quite a list of unanswered prayers.

Why is this?

Instead of answering this question, I would encourage you to move beyond just asking in your praying.  Or bettery yet….instead of “move beyond” I should use “add to”…..as a tree adds rings to itself, the core of the tree is always there. So add to your asking other kinds of praying and see what happens. (you can find creative ideas on how to do this by clicking on the MENU tab above)

Spend more time praising God for who he is…what his character is like.
Spend more time thanking God for the evidences of grace that you seen him scatter about
Spend more time marveling at this beautiful world he has placed us in
Spend more time blessing others that you encounter on your journey.
Spend more time in silence, simply enjoying the presence of your Beloved.

These kind of prayer are also encouraged in the Bible through verses such as: ”

• Abide in me and I in you,”
• “Come to me and I’ll give you rest,”
• “Meditate in the night watch”  and
• “Be still and know that I am God”
  

After you have made a habit of adding these to your asking, ask yourself “Does this kind of prayer work?”
The answer is an undeniable YES! It doesn’t change circumstances so much as it changes YOU.

Creative Tool Kit

You may want to think about assembling for yourself a took kit for creative praying…some kind of box where you can put your “go to” stuff, so that it is there close at hand when you need it.

If you’ve checked out the “recipies” of creative prayer practices under the MENU tab at the top, you will have noticed that there can be a lot of writing, drawing, doodling, etc. This can all be enhanced if you have gathered materials, papers and pens with which you feel a certain affinity.

What kind of stuff am I talking about? Well, let’s see, it could include:

• assortment of pens
• colored pencils or makers or highlighters
• post-em notes (in various colors)
• index cards
• paper: different sizes, colors, textures
• books of  (i.e: Common Book of Prayer, old hymnal, favorite Bible)
• notebook (moleskin?)
• scissors
• glue stick
• pictures of family and friends

Any other ideas?

Simple Meditation Recipe

I find a lot of people struggle with the kinds of praying where it comes to being quiet and listening. It could be our ADD culture. It could be that we prefer being in control…and we are in control as long as we’re thinking, talking, asking, doing, praying…  It could be that the faith that we’ve inherited has become overwhelmingly rational over the past few hundred years and it’s hard to resist that intellectual tendency and learn to exercise our spirit….that quieter and gentler part of us.

Here’s a simple little idea that could help:

• find a short passage in the Bible that has already touched you before.
• read through it slowly aloud, then pause for about a minute. think about structure, grammar, context, intent, whatever helps you “get” what the texts is wanting to communicate
• read through the passage again aloud, pause this time for about two minutes. during this pause: what phrase is the most interesting to you? taste it, chew it, memorize it by reading it a few times. what are these verses encouraging you to do? who are they encouraging you to be?
• read through the text one last time, slowly and out loud. take about a 3 minute pause. but this time try not to think, or analyze or process the verses…..just be quiet and listen….receive….enjoy….savor the moment. if your mind wanders into thinking about stuff you need to get done today or something you forgot to do yesterday (which is completely natural) , just note it down and repeat again the meaningful phrase that you just memorized.

If you’ve managed to accomplish this little task you have just done a form of the ancient spiritual practice called “lectio divina“.  I’ll have a few other things to say about it in the weeks to come:  why it’s important, what you get out of it, what are other versions of it, etc.

Oh, and I should add, since we are within the food metaphor….the above exercise is like eating a steak. You usually don’t start a meal with a steak, and neither should you start prayer with this. Lead up to it with other “courses” such as praise, thanksgiving, confession. You’ll find your spirit’s appetite is much more prepared for the steak after a good salad.

Psalm Re-write

Here’s a little idea that I pull out every now and then: I like to re-write Psalm 136….you know the one with the phrase that repeats all the way through: “His love endures forever” (or something similar depending on your translation).

• Read it through one time as it is in its original version.
• Go back and notice that at verse 9 in begins to recount the story of the Exodus.
• Now start at the beginning. Read it aloud slowly and thoughtfully. But this time substitute phrases of your own story at verse 9 (your own exodus maybe) taking your cue from the style of the Psalm….”to Him who_____” ….each time repeating and even “tasting” the beautifully simple refrain “His love endures forever”. (I think saying it aloud is hugely important! The continual repetition is a symbol of the forever-ness)
• After you do that for as long as you like, kick back in to the ending of the Psalm at verse 23 to finish it off.

I think you’ll agree that it makes for a great opening course….like a hearty salad….a mix of praise and thanksgiving.