In our journey towards spiritual enlightenment during this Season of Lent, we have already gone through several practices that have the great potential of growing and deepening our spirituality and our relationship with God – these are good, but, just a reminder, we have to practice them in order to bring about spiritual enlightenment.
In previous issues, I’ve shared with you silence and solitude, fasting and frugality and secrecy and sacrifice. In this issue, I focus on prayer and study. These two practices are talked about a lot – especially in church – but probably not practiced as much as we might want or even imagine them to be. However, these two disciplines can act as catalysts for transformation in both the heart and mind – in both our emotions and intellect.
There’s much to say about prayer. However, prayer is so much more than a spiritual discipline; it’s a life. Prayer is a powerful practice for opening our lives to God.
Why do we need to practice prayer as a discipline? Think about how fast life moves for most of us. Deadlines. Appointments. When we finally get the chance to sit down, we have such short attention spans.
In prayer, we focus our minds on God, and all too often that attention lasts for a few seconds. We begin our prayer with, “Dear God,” and it’s not long before our minds are wandering off and thinking about anything other than the One we began to address. Imagine doing that in our regular conversations.
It’s for this reason that we practice prayer as a spiritual discipline – to enable us to hold on to the focus, that single-mindedness necessary to wait on the God-who-is-present.
It’s also important to understand that prayer, just like every other practice, is a learning process. Yes, we’re going to find ourselves distracted. Yes, our minds will wander, thinking about that grocery list or the countless concerns of the day. However, as we continue on the path of prayer, our meanderings will be shorter and less frequent.
Prayer is conversation (communication) with God. It involves both speaking and listening. So often we pray as if it were a monologue. Soren Kierkegarrd said, “A man prayed, and at first he thought that prayer was talking. But he became more and more quiet until in the end he realized that prayer is listening.” And this makes sense because God knows so much more than we do – and a whole lot better than we do. It would do us good to listen.
In prayer, we ask God to change the way we see other people. Attitudes change, transformation happens. If you’re praying for someone, even if you’re upset at them, you can’t stay mad too long. Maybe that’s why Jesus said to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Mother Teresa said, “Keep the joy of loving God in your heart and share this joy with all you meet especially your family. Be holy – let us pray.”
In prayer, we also ask God to change the way we see ourselves. In prayer, we invite God to come in and occupy all of the rooms in our hearts – even the ones that were previously labeled, “Keep out!” When we hear Spirit pointing out areas in our life that need growth, we are grateful.
Prayer is not complicated. It’s not about saying the right words, but rather a connection that comes from deep within our spirits. Prayers don’t need to be flowery, but rather simple, honest, right from the heart.
Along with prayer comes study. What can we say about study? Someone once said, “Perfecting the brains God gave us.” Study is one of the most important keys to change that God works in our lives.
Through study we see the nature, the character and heart of God revealed to us through Scripture. Richard Foster provides some insight into study by listing four steps involved in study.
The first one is repetition or rehearsal. If you want to learn how to swing a golf club correctly, you first need to be shown the proper technique. After that, it’s all about repetition. Muscles develop a memory (actually the brain develops the memory of how the muscles should be controlled), and the swing becomes “natural.” So it is with the mind. That which we rehearse in our minds becomes patterns of thought.
Second, attention is also necessary for study. So many things distract our minds from the attention necessary for attentive study. The goal is to eliminate as many distractions as possible.
Third, understanding is necessary for study. There comes a time (and it may come quickly or after many years) when you finally “get it.” It’s that “Aha” moment when you get your mind around a concept or teaching.
Finally, meditation or reflection is necessary for study. Through meditation, we look back on what we’ve studied and we “chew it over” in our minds.
The most important aspect to study is not in what we do, but in what God does with our minds. Prayer and study – together they form a beautiful upward spiral. Study informs our prayers about God’s character and prayer invites God to shape our minds as we study.
PS: You are invited to join us for our Celebration Choir presentation of the Living Last Supper in song and drama, April 16 at 7 p.m. and April 17 at 5 p.m. Freewill offering received. Rev. Dan Koeshall is the Senior Pastor at The Metropolitan Community Church (The Met) in San Diego, California, themetchurch.org.
