Prayer and Contemplation

Saturday 8/15/2015 7:26 AM

I used to feel guilty because I felt that I didn’t pray enough. I had my regular devotional time of reading scripture and reflecting on what God was trying to say to me but when it came time for praying I would find my mind wandering or I would fall asleep. Over the years I have less and less guilt in this regard even though my pattern of prayer hasn’t changed that much. The reason I no longer have guilt is because I have come to realize that prayer is not simply asking or demanding things of God, it is a two-way conversation, where I both speak and listen.  Some refer to that type of prayer as contemplation.

In her essay Contemplation in Time of War, Wendy M. Wright writes, “But contemplation is a form of prayer that leads us through and, ultimately, beyond our present concepts and images. The contemplative life, as a consciously walked path, is a process of letting go of the familiar ways we have known and experienced God. … The contemplative life is that radical and risky opening of self to be changed by and, in some way, into God’s own self. It is a formative life; it changes us and our perceptions. It causes us to see beyond our present seeing. Thus it is a life of continual dying, of being stripped over and over again of the comfortable and familiar, a life of letting go and allowing a reality beyond our own to shape us. From another perspective, it is a life of emerging spaciousness, of being made wide and broad and empty enough to hold the vast and magnificent and excruciating paradoxes of created life in the crucible of love.”

This is a better description of my prayer life. As I have prayed over the years I find that my thought processes have changed, my opinions have changed, my relationship with God has changed, my behavior has changed, and my empathy for others has changed. I struggle with what Wright refers to as the magnificent and excruciating paradoxes of life but I also find that the crucible of love has a seemingly limitless ability to accommodate those paradoxes. God, in his mercy, accommodates me and he calls me to do the same for others. I trust he will find me faithful to his calling.

Removing the Plank

Friday 8/7/2015 4:57 AM

I thought about a song that was popular when I was growing up as I had my devotions this morning. Its words were, “What the world needs now is love, sweet love, it’s the only thing that there’s just too little of. What the world needs now is love, sweet love, no, not just for some, but for everyone.” Our culture in the United States is marked by income inequality, racial tensions, and political name calling, just to name a few. Some would argue that many of the things that seem to divide us in this country are manufactured by the media, who are complicit with those in political power to keep our country divided but, whatever the reason, phrases like “the ninety-nine percent” and “Black Lives Matter” pepper the media, keeping those divisive issues in the forefront of our minds.

In his book, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, William Law writes, “It was … holy intercession that raised Christians to such a state of mutual love, as far exceeded all that had been praised and admired in human friendship. And when the same spirit of intercession is again in the world, when Christianity has the same power over the hearts of people that it then had, this holy friendship will be again in fashion, and Christians will be again the wonder of the world, for that exceeding love which they bear to one another.” Law seems to argue that what the world needs now is fervent prayer for others by Christians, which will in turn bring about the love for which our world seems to be starved. 2 Chronicles 7:14 brings the same message for Christians today as it did for the Israelites at that time, “…if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

We in the Christian community like to blame others for the evil that is so prevalent in our land. In reality, we should be blaming ourselves for our lack of genuine prayer for the good and for the salvation of others. In my prayers I will usually thank God for what he has done for me and will intercede for my family and for my friends. But God demands that I pray for my enemies and for those who would do me harm. In my experience, when I begin praying for others, my heart changes and I am more willing to become personally involved in seeing that my prayers on their behalf become a reality. I will begin to love sacrificially, giving up some of my own wishes and dreams so that my dream for the benefit of others can come to fruition.

As I see it, the problems that are so rampant in our society and the things that so often frustrate the Christian community can be laid at the feet of the Christians in our society and our lack of love and concern for others, especially for those with whom we disagree or with those who seek to do us harm. We should do as Jesus suggested, remove the plank from our own eyes so we can see clearly to remove the mote from the eyes of our neighbors. When we begin to live in humility, to pray for the good of others as we seek the face of God, to turn from our accusatory and judgmental ways, and begin to show love for others, then God will forgive our sin and heal our land.