What about prayer?

Our recent journey of effectively de-churching has led us to question pretty much every aspect of our faith and how that affects our day-to-day lives. This post is going to be part of a series on the fundamentals of our faith. Our first fundamental is prayer; what is it, why is it important?

I remember a chorus I learned when I was younger that claimed that prayer “is like a telephone for us to talk to Jesus”. I always found it a little trite; prayer is supposed to be more than that, more close, more intimate. But here’s what struck me recently, prayer changes as we move along the journey of faith. It changes purpose, meaning and method, but sometimes it is like a phone!

The journey of faith starts when we start to think about faith. Do I or don’t I believe? Is there a God? What does he want with me? In these early steps prayer is like a long-distance telephone call, one where our receiver doesn't always work very well. We take the tentative steps of reaching out to a God we are yet distant from to see if he will reach back. Perhaps it is less like a telephone call than a letter that can only be answered by a very short telegram (or to put it in modern parlance, half a tweet!).

This journey of faith doesn't take us along some cheery, easy-going yellow-brick road, but on a series of tough climbs and gaping chasms. As we make each leap of faith we get a little closer to knowing God, and as we do we become a little more keen to listen to our new friend and to do the things he wants us to do. Our conversations are still quite selfish, we spend a lot of the time asking for what we want and listen to maybe a quarter of what God has to say to us.

Our early “phone” conversations are very formal, the way we might phone a business or someone in authority, but it changes over time, it has to.

I'm not always good at keeping in contact with my friends, but when I speak on the phone to my friends I can easily get into deep conversation, even if we haven’t spoken for ages. That’s what prayer has to become in us, a moment of connecting with God deeply, of listening to the other (sometimes more than we speak) and finding that you don’t want to stop and look forward to the next time. That’s something I've not got to yet, the thing is I don’t really know God all that well yet.

Often our church practices keep us far from God, it’s a side-effect of our paganised religiosity, not least the bizarre practice of calling Him by a vague title (capitalised to keep it distinct from other gods) rather than by His name. He has many names, I'm trying to find out what His name is for me and us at this point in our lives - and why not ask Him, rather than look somewhere else for the answer?

Prayer must be a conversation, a two way process of getting to know one another. God knows me, because of who He is, but He’s not intrusive (at least that’s what we’re led to believe) so a part of prayer has to be me telling Him about myself, opening up and sharing some intimacy with Him.

Although I enjoy partaking in the Nortumbrian Daily Office and I love the thought that I'm part of an unbroken chain, this is mostly a meditation for my own benefit. It is a time to allow me to refocus on God, to feel some rhythm to my faith, but it is not a two-way thing.

So basically, what I've been trying to say is that yes, prayer is definitely a fundamental, but the structured repetitive prayer we often use the most is not enough. Let’s use prayer to get to know our Father God.

Here we go again...

We went away at the weekend up to Newcastle to visit some friends. It was a lovely trip and it was great to see them. Whilst we were up there they took us to Durham Cathedral, Sanctuary21 in Durham and Lindisfarne. All excellent places. The conversation turned to celtic christianity and monasticism and also how The Salvation Army fits into that.

The Salvation Army is, in many ways, an early form of neo-monasticism. It is an "order" of believers who take on a burden above and beyond that required to be a Christian.

A big part of Celtic Christianity, Monasticism and, at least the early, Salvation Army is a daily rhythm. Bizarrely we tend to have a dislike of things like a liturgical calendar or whatever, but many people actually swear by such a rhythm to their life. Having prayers and bible passages that you can recite just like that has it's benefit.

Also, by taking up such a rhythm, there is a visible constant in your life through your ups and downs, a gently reminder of the constant presence of Christ. No matter how your day, your week, your month or even your year (couldn't resist a friends quote there) the prayers are the same, gently building your faith and reminding you that the big picture is much bigger than a single person.

Those of you who have followed my blog for a long time will probably recognise a recurring theme here (hence the title of the post). I keep coming back to this idea, yet always fail to actually put it into practice.

I like the old Salvation Army terms for this practice, they used to call it Knee Drills (for prayer) and Sword Drills (for Bible reading/study). Much as other drills, they sometimes don't appear to have much link to reality - remember the drills performed by Daniel in The Karate Kid? What about the daft things that soldiers do tossing guns around? It's about making certain actions completely second nature. So it should be with prayer and study.

So, I'm once again having a crack at this. I've started reading a Bible in one year plan, although I've decided to start on the correct date than from the beginning. I'm also planning on at least 3 separate prayer times through the day - Morning, Noon and Evening. At the moment I'm not sure what prayers I'll say at what point, as it's important that at least some of those prayers be consistent, so that they can be learnt. I'll need to do some research, but I'll get back to you when I've got a plan.

Pray for me that I stick with it and establish a pattern of prayer and bible reading!

Everyday I am swayed...

Hi all. Long time since my last post.

Confession time: I'm a sinner. I wish I wasn't but I still am. Paul sums it up well in Romans (7:15-20):

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[c] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

Have had this song for a while, but decided to look up the words as I listened to it today (Shifting Sand by Caedmon's Call):

Sometimes I believe all the lies

So I can do the things I should despise

And every day I am swayed

By whatever is on my mind

I hear it all depends on my faith

So I'm feeling precarious

The only problem I have with these mysteries

Is they're so mysterious

And like a consumer I've been thinking

If I could just get a bit more

More than my 15 minutes of faith,

Then I'd be secure

(Chorus)

My faith is like shifting sand

Changed by every wave

My faith is like shifting sand

So I stand on grace

I've begged you for some proof

For my Thomas eyes to see

A slithering staff, a leprous hand

And lions resting lazily

A glimpse of your back-side glory

And this soaked altar going ablaze

But you know I've seen so much

I explained it away

(Chorus)

Waters rose as my doubts reigned

My sand-castle faith, it slipped away

Found myself standing on your grace

It'd been there all the time

(Chorus repeated)

My prayer? God, make me better!

Stay on the solid ground and you won't be swept around so much... time to get back some discipline and really delve into the Word.