Thoughts on Prayer

The brethren asked Abba Agathon: "Amongst all our different activities, father, which is the virtue that requires the greatest effort?" He answered: "Forgive me, but I think there is no labor greater than praying to God. For every time a man wants to pray, his enemies the demons try to prevent him; for they know that nothing obstructs them so much as prayer to God. In everything else that a man undertakes, if he perseveres, he will attain rest, but in order to pray, a man must struggle to his last breath."

— Sayings of the Desert Fathers


Now, if it was part of the sacred discipline of the Incarnate Son that he should observe frequent seasons of retirement [for prayer], how much more is it incumbent on us, broken as we are and disabled by manifold sin, to be diligent in the exercise of private prayer! ...

In the morning we should look forward to the duties of the day, anticipating those situations in which temptation may lurk, and preparing ourselves to embrace such opportunities of usefulness as may be presented to us. In the evening we ought to remark upon the providences which have befallen us, consider our attainment in holiness, and endeavor to profit by the lessons which God would have us learn. And, always, we must acknowledge and forsake sin. Then there are the numberless themes of prayer which our desires for the good estate of the Church of God, for the conversion and sanctification of our friends and acquaintances, for the furtherance of missionary effort, and for the coming of the kingdom of Christ may suggest. All this cannot be pressed into a few crowded moments. We must be at leisure when we enter the secret place.

 —David McIntyre, The Hidden Life of Prayer: The Life-blood of the Christian

Ann's Blog: A Holy Experience

Since reading One Thousand Gifts, I have been skimming Ann Voskamp's blog and reading posts that capture my interest. There are several posts that I have particularly enjoyed that will bless you as well...

Journaling as a Spiritual Discipline: 8 Reasons to Journal (Links to subsequent posts are included at the end of this one.)

How to Build a House of Prayer

What Could Change Everything: A Pilgrimage into Prayer

Prayer: Why We Struggle (and how not to)

A Place for Everything

Radical Revisited

On Sunday, June 13, I posted my Radical Plan, and in the weeks that followed, I didn't live up to the standard I set for myself. Therefore, I decided to read the book again and start over. I finished the book yesterday, and I am as committed to it as ever. However, the past several weeks have demonstrated that it is going to be harder than I thought it would be. Not for lack of enthusiasm, but due to ingrained habits and patterns of thinking and behaving that will take a good bit of prayer and effort to overcome. In those weeks, the challenges that were hardest for me were giving up luxuries and praying for the nations on a daily basis.

What is a luxury?
I kept asking myself that question, and as I did I rationalized several purchases that I should have forgone. By the world's standards, my whole life is luxurious. Therefore, I had to determine what is a luxury for me. What makes it even harder is that I don't have that many indulgences any more—at least not compared to most women in my demographic. I'm not a shopper; I had already committed to not making any more hobby-related purchases; And the only personal care luxury I occasionally indulged in was a pedicure. I'm not ready to consider a decent haircut a luxury, and I gave up coloring my hair months ago.

When I need clothing, I like to buy good quality items that I can wear for a long time. I'm not overly fashion conscious. (Been there. Done that.) I could spend less on my clothing, but then I would have to shop more frequently, so I feel like from a financial standpoint, it balances out. It is a rare occasion when I go out and buy I new outfit for an "event." I didn't even buy a new dress for my twenty-year reunion a few years ago!

My greatest indulgence at this point in my life is books, and I know better than to attempt a moratorium on book buying. Therefore, my goal is to only allow myself to purchase books that will contribute to my spiritual growth, and to purchase them only if they are not available from the library OR if I think it is likely that I would want to share them or read them again. No novels, biographies, or cookbooks! I can get all of those from the library. Besides, I have plenty at home that I haven't even read yet!

I've given up professional pedicures, and I'm going to spend more conservatively on cosmetics and personal care items. I'm going to try not to purchase clothing. However, I've been losing weight, so I've already had to buy a few items, but from now on, I'm going to try to have as many items as possible altered. Finally, I'm going to eat out much less frequently. I could write a whole post on that one!

In addition to all of this, as I have time, I'm going to go through each room in our house and purge as much as possible. Emotionally this isn't that hard for me, as it is something that I tend to do anyway on a regular basis, and I am not sentimental. At this stage in my life, finding the time will be the challenge. I did manage to clean out my daughter's room last week while she was away at my mother's house, and it was very satisfying. We all have so much, and it is such a waste!

Finding Time to Pray More
The second area that I failed in during the first weeks of my Radical Experiment was praying for the nations. I ordered the Operation World prayer guide, and I love reading through it, but sitting down every day for the time it takes for me to pray through an entry is extremely challenging for me. I have already for some time been burdened by the desire to pray more for extended periods of time and to intercede on behalf of my brothers and sisters in Christ, not to mention my own family, so adding an additional prayer focus area makes me feel overwhelmed. A morning "quiet time" is not enough. I'm lifting this up to the Lord and asking Him for direction. For now, I'm leaning towards scheduling for myself a weekly extended prayer time, but I don't yet know when or where it will be.

So there you have it—my heart and my struggles so far in following my Radical Plan. My hope is that this doesn't discourage you from attempting it, but rather, that it would spur you on as you see that by God's grace it can be done. In fact, that is the only way it can be done and the only reason that there is for doing it.

Peace and Power

"Our sanctuary is the throne of God. That is where we find peace and power. That is where we find the confidence to go where God wants us to go and do what God wants us to do. The more time you spend kneeling before the throne the more peace and power you'll have. Period."
—Mark Batterson, Evotional.com

You can read the entire post here.

Bonhoeffer on Prayer, Part Two

In "Bonhoeffer on Prayer, Part One," the focus was on how to pray. Following are some of Bonhoeffer's thoughts on what to pray. (The following words are directly quoted from The Cost of Discipleship.)

The Lord's Prayer is not merely the pattern prayer, it is the way Christians must pray. If they pray this prayer, God will certainly hear them. The Lord's Prayer is the quintessence of prayer. A disciple's prayer is founded on and circumscribed by it. Once again Jesus does not leave his disciples in ignorance; he teaches them the Lord's Prayer and so leads them to a clear understanding of prayer.

"Our Father which art in heaven." ...they call upon a Father who already knows his children's needs. ... In the name of the Son of God they are privileged to call God Father.

"Hallowed be they name." God's name as Father...shall be kept holy among them.

"Thy kingdom come." God grant that the kingdom of Jesus Christ may grow in his Church on earth. God hasten the end of the kingdoms of this world, and establish his own kingdom in power and glory!

"Thy will be done, as in heaven so on earth." In fellowship with Jesus his followers have surrendered their own wills completely to God's, and so they pray that God's will may be done throughout the world. ...the evil will is still alive even in the followers of Christ, it still seeks to cut them off from fellowship with him; and that is why they must also pray that the will of God may prevail more and more in their hearts every day and break down all defiance.

God's name, God's kingdom, God's will must be the primary object of Christian prayer. Of course, it is not as if God needed our prayers, but they are the means by which the disciples become partakers in the heavenly treasure for which they pray. Furthermore, God uses their prayers to hasten the coming of the End.

"Give us this day our daily bread." As long as the disciples are on earth, they should not be ashamed to pray for their bodily needs. ...bread really comes down from above as the gift of God alone.

"Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors." Every day Christ's followers must acknowledge and bewail their guilt.

"Lead us not into temptation." ...the disciple is conscious of his weakness, and does not expose himself unnecessarily to temptation in order to test the strength of his faith. Christians ask God not to put their puny faith to the test, but to preserve them in the hour of temptation.

"But deliver us from evil." It is a prayer for a holy death and for the deliverance of the Church in the day of judgment.

"For thine is the kingdom..." The disciples are renewed in their assurance that the kingdom is God's by their fellowship in Jesus Christ, on whom depends the fulfillment of all their prayers. In him God's name is hallowed, his kingdom comes and his will is done.

Bonhoeffer on Prayer, Part One

I have been reading The Cost of Discipleship for several months. It's the kind of book that you read a bit and then put it down for a while. There's a lot to digest. If the thought of reading this book is daunting to you, you should at least read the section "Of the Hidden Character of the Christian Life." The following passage is from Chapter 15, "The Hiddeness of Prayer."

We are privileged to know that he knows our needs before we ask him. This is what gives Christian prayer its boundless confidence and its joyous certainty. It matters little what form of prayer we adopt or how many words we use, what matters is the faith which lays hold on God and touches the heart of the Father who knew us long before we came to him.

Genuine prayer is never "good works," an exercise or a pious attitude, but it is always the prayer of a child to a Father. Hence, it is never given to self-display, whether before God, ourselves, or other people. ... Thus faith, which is the mainspring of Christian prayer, excludes all reflection and premeditation.

Prayer is the supreme instance of the hidden character of the Christian life. It is the antithesis of self-display. When men pray, they have ceased to know themselves, and know only God whom they call upon.

The essence of Christian prayer is not general adoration, but definite, concrete petition. The right way to approach God is to stretch out our hands and ask of One who we know has the heart of a Father.

True prayer does not depend either on the individual or the whole body of the faithful, but solely upon the knowledge that our heavenly Father knows our needs. That makes God the sole object of our prayers, and frees us from a false confidence in our own prayerful efforts.

Be encouraged today!