Session 18, Prayer: Intimacy with God

WE ARE CONTINUING the series through "Call to Covenant."  The next sessions help us consider some more "big picture" pieces of faith journeys and include sessions on:  A Kingdom without Walls; Social Justice: Realizing God's Vision; Incarnation: Divinely Human; Prayer: Intimacy with God; Compassion: The Heart of Jesus' Ministry; Creative Transformation; and Embracing Mystery. Join us on Sunday mornings at 9:00am or on Wednesday evenings at 6:30pm!

FOCUS: The idea of prayer as the primary method of interaction with God is best thought of as a way of life
rather than an activity reserved for specific times, places, and formulas.

Relating to “the More”
"When Bad Things Happen to Good People" author Rabbi Harold Kushner thinks he knows God's favorite book of the Bible. It’s the Psalms. In the rest of the Bible, God is said to speak to us—“through seers, sages, and prophets, through the history of the Israelite people. But in the Psalms, we speak to God. We tell God of our love, our needs, our gratitude." But more than that – it shows enough confidence in the relationship to shake our fist in anger. The Psalms show the nature of covenant relationships to be conversation, familiarity – and the confidence to express anger, lament, and dissatisfaction with the way things are. What we think of as prayer – along with other concepts of intimacy with the Divine – are testimony to humanity’s striving toward relating to that unknowable yet inescapable sense of “the more.”

The Problem with Prayer

“When St. Paul said that we are to pray without ceasing, he surely did not mean we ought to say prayers without ceasing. When people envision the kingdom of heaven as a place where people are praying all the time, I just assume not go if that is the reality that you have got to deal with.”  – Jack Spong, from Living the Questions

Prayer is in dire need of a makeover. Tired clichés and rote childhood memories are the extent of many people’s prayer repertoire. Prayers that have been taught to children in good faith can verge on the downright creepy when considering their potential for theological and psychological distress:

"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
if I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take."

Many people approach prayer in a way that makes God into a cosmic vending machine: insert prayer into slot, make your selection, and if you’re good, voila! The outcome you had in mind. The proof texts quoted regarding prayer would seem to support such an understanding:

Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive. (Matthew 21:22)
Ask, and it will be given you. (Luke 11:9)

In Matthew 7, Jesus seems to say that whatever we ask will be given to us. In Luke 18, Jesus tells a parable about persistence in prayer: pray, pray, pray and God will eventually give in. Matthew 18:19 has Jesus saying that, “If two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in
heaven.”

The problem lies in taking all of these verses out of context. Far from being willynilly guarantees of whatever you want, they are instead about making the Reign of God real on earth through acts of healing, reconciliation, and justice. When the disciples ask Jesus how to pray, the “Lord’s Prayer” they are taught is an appeal to be sustained in doing whatever work is necessary in bringing about the kingdom.

To receive a complete copy of the text used for the session, please contact Pastor Marj at daytonfirstcong@gmail.com.  It will be sent as an email attachment for your perusal as opposed to printing multiple pages, a stewardship practice. Because of copyright law, we are not able to make the materials available here. Another option would be to purchase a copy of Felten and Procter-Murphy's newly-released book, Living the Questions: The Wisdom of Progressive Christianity from your local bookseller.

Questions to be considered in light of the video and readings:

How did Spong’s experience with Cornelia start to change his understanding of prayer?

How does Process Thought “make sense” of petitionary or intercessory prayer?

How might the idea of prayer as “letting God loose in the world” be helpful? Unhelpful?

What place do words have when trying to “authentically listen” or achieve the silence of “deep knowing?”

Describe how patience and humor enhance Hauerwas’ understanding of prayer.

Spong relates a story regarding prayer for his wife. What stands out for you in this story?

How does the idea of prayer being legitimately different for people and changing over time resonate with your experience?