"The closer we come to the heartbeat of God the more we see our need and the more we desire to be conformed to Christ . . .In prayer, real prayer, we begin to think God's thoughts after him: to desire the things he desires, to love the things he loves, to will the things he wills. Progressively, we are taught to see things from his point of view." --Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline
On Sunday we considered the story told in Mark 1:29-39. It is a powerful "prayer story!"
The scene is placed at the outset of Jesus' ministry in Galilee. Shortly after he has liberated the man in the Capernaum synagogue from the horrible burden of others' expectations, Jesus enters the home of Simon and Andrew's family. Responding to the condition of Simon's suffering mother-in- law, he "comes and takes her by the hand and lifts her up." She is freed to serve. Word travels quickly, and soon "the whole city" gathers at the door in anticipation of more wonders. Many people who are sick and those "possessed by demons" are brought to him; Jesus heals the sick (therapeuo) and the demons he "casts out" or "expells."
We identified "demons" as forms of bondage that people labor under: labels fixed on people; dehumanization; trauma; exclusion; enslavement of various forms; blindness to one's own beauty. Jesus casts out the "unclean spirits" that distort the divine image in each of us. "He healed many . . ." We imagined him caring for people late into the night.
Here is where the narrative takes a most profound turn. Jesus rises in the morning before anyone else and goes out to a deserted place to pray. Before long Simon and the others "hunt him down": "Where have you been? Everyone is looking for you. There are still alot of people outside the house!" Jesus speaks with great clarity: "Let us go on into the neighboring towns, that I may preach there also; for this is why I came forth." Acting in freedom and with great intention, Jesus leads them away from the demands of Capernaum and deeper into the mission field. We noted that Jesus' actions were not defined or prescribed by people's expectations or demands. And while his compassion for all is clear, the ministry of individual healing is not his primary task. Rather, he has come to proclaim the good news of the gospel everywhere he is able go. His Living Word will confront demons and suffering everywhere with the good news of God's love. This leads us to reflect a bit on our own expectations of Jesus, and how our expectations may divirge from the saving mission Jesus embodies.
I believe that Jesus' clarity of purpose, and his ability to lead his disciples assertively in fulfilling God's calling, flow forth from his prayer life.
Read again the words of Richard Foster printed above, and picture Jesus in the early morning quiet being centered and strengthened in prayer. I wonder what his prayer sounds like, if he says much at all, or if he primarily receives. Even when the others "hunt him down (Greek translation)," he is not anxious or re-active.
I am reminded of Jimmy Forbes' description of Jesus: "I like his freedom to be himself. I like his freedom to be for others. I like his capacity to keep faith with his own sense of who he is and with the destiny he believes he is called to fulfill." I would add: In Jesus daily prayer life, that freedom is renewed, that faith grows, that sense of identity and purpose is not only affirmed but clarified, the vision of God's purpose for the whole world deepens and is textured!
Let's take some time to reflect on and discuss the role of prayer in each of our lives.
"I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer."--Martin Luther
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5 comments:
Well I finally made it and sorry it took me so long.
I have been praying about praying alot lately. Mostly reflecting on our discussion of privacy in prayer and wanted to share a personal experience and lesson that was learned. Unequal compassion and judgment in my behavior & reaction was what I ran into. My own life's drama was inserted into the middle of praying for hurting souls. Personal experience is important in some regards but I found it biased me where I should have been more 'neutral'. I have a close friend that told me of some marital difficulties he was having and the unfortunate result was divorce. It appeared to me over the years that my friend and his wife did have a strong marriage. Initially I was led to believe that he left her and was shacking up with another woman. I was angered with him and sad for her. My prayer revolved around him seeing the pain he had caused and wanting to comfort her. Then I found out the truth was that she kicked him out because she was 'fooling around' and he landed where he did. My compassion for each shifted so much with this new information I had to look at MY motivations. Had I not known the circumstance and only that people were suffering, my compassion for each would have been equal, but that was not the case. I feel like I passed judgment and doled out my concern accordingly. Love thy enemy or those who have behaved "wrongly"? No, I didn't. It's important to me to treat everyone as equally as possible and felt like I missed the mark here.
I understand exactly what Tom is saying. I have found myself many times judging and then praying according to my judgement. Whether I understand the situation correctly or not is not important, what is important is that I should not be a judge but just pray for all parties involved and let our dear Lord take it from there.
Then I pray for myself that I will not again judge any situation. I can only do this with God's help.
I have learned that I have prayed for the wrong things. I have learned that it is God's will, not mine. My prayers have become more for grace, wisdom and guidance, and to hush my inner self. This, in order to hear and accept God's will rather than to push forward with my own. For this reason, prayer is difficult for me, as it is not easy to set aside what I believe is the best for my family, friends, the world.
I am moved by the transparency of each person's contribution. They reflect the vulnerability of your prayers.
I shared in our last session how Dan Berrigan describes prayer as a process of Dis-location leading us to New-location. In prayer, we move from being self-centered to Christ-centered. Our egocentric perspective (and I don't mean that negatively so much as perceptually) is dislocated; our Christocentric (mind of Christ) perspective is a new location from which to perceive the world, others, even the one we see in the mirror.
Tom's description of praying from a deeply self-influenced perspective is helpful and instructive. So is Marie's honesty about praying her judgement. We frequently begin by "praying our perceptions." Over time, the Spirit moves us.
Wendy's reflection reminds me of Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane. His prayer reveals a personal desire that (while "reasonable") differs from God's will. The intensity of his prayer demonstrates the depth of his inner struggle and Jesus' own awareness of its dimensions. It should be noted that his surrender only comes after several tries! He is then able to act decisively, and to embody the integrity and divine purpose solidified through prayer. In every setting, particularly in the most trying circumstances, he is free to act from his God-centered location.
A thought: I'm not sure that we pray "wrongly" so much as we are prone to pray "limitedly." Through our devotional life, we are sensitized more and more to how our lives--and the decisions within them--are tied together with God's other children throughout the world. Dr. King used to say that we are part of "an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny."
Let me suggest that it would be good for us to spend considerable time with the Lord's Prayer (Jesus' response to the request, "Lord, teach us to pray") and his prayer for the disicples in John Chapter 17.
I have spent alot of time in prayer and I still don't feel as though I have it right. I have times that my prayers are so intense I begin to weep and other times I feel I am easily distracted. Lately my prayers have been filled with sorrow and pain. Not for myself but for others who are suffering and the sadnes they are going through. I pray deeply for those who can't see the depths of thier rage or the pain they bring onto others. I pray multible times throughout the day, sometimes my prayers feel more like conversations with God as though he is riding along int he car with me. I find this time to feel close to God as though He is a close friend out for the afternoon. I find I have spent less time in the sanctuary praying. I had always found a very intense deep bond with God when I would pray while sitting in the empty pews or on my knees in front of the alter. Many of you may not know, but there are many times, I will kick off my shoes and walk around barefoot in the church. This helps me to be grounded in the what God teahces us - WE ARE STANDING ON HOLY GROUND!!! All this world has and all aspects of it are gifts from God, thus we should take time to respect that and stand with pride that we can feel His love through the ground on which we stand.
Life is filled with trauma, drama and pain - but there is so much more LOVE that is offered through prayer - all other feelings and emotions could be wipe away. I believe most pray for peace and love - I don't believe people pray for more pain and anguish for others. But maybe I am just nieve to the realty of the world.
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