Two sharp barbs re: prayer
October 19, 2009
The next sermon in the Jesus Unplugged series is on Luke 11:1-13, in which Jesus’ disciples want him to teach them how to pray. Below are two sharp barbs about prayer–the first from Paul E. Miller’s recent release, A Praying Life,
“The quest for a contemplative life can actually be self-absorbed, focused on my quiet and me. If we love people and have the power to help, then we are going to be busy. Learning to pray doesn’t offer us a less busy life; it offers us a less busy heart. In the midst of outer busyness we can develop an inner quiet. Because we are less hectic on the inside, we have a greater capacity to love…and thus to be busy, which in turn drives us even more into a life of prayer. By spending time with our Father in prayer, we integrate our lives with his, with what he is doing in us. Our lives become more coherent. They feel calmer, more ordered, even in the midst of confusion and pressure.”
The second is a humorous-but-deadly-serious observation from Jonathan Acuff’s site Stuff Christians Like. Acuff addresses a frequent prayer meeting and intercessory prayer technique: Praying that God will fix a situation as long as you are not part of the solution. (I dare you to click it and read.) More and more often I find myself coming back to that as I pray and as I lead others in praying, “Father, use us–our words and actions–as part of your gracious answer to these prayers….”
