In case you are ready to actually start an "exercise" program. You will need different exercises to work out different areas. Here is one of my favorites. It would work out the heart/being area. It is called Examen of Consciousness (one type of Prayer of Examen). There are different ways of doing it, but here is a link that describes one step-by-step process.
http://www.livingroom.org.au/blog/archives/000673.php
Try it a few times and let me know how it went.
14 comments:
Careful now, Kurtzy. You are sounding a little too scripted, right off the old evangelical talking points.
Even the disciples of Jesus asked him to teach them how to pray.
Is one supposed to learn by trial and error? That's not the most efficient way to learn. Better to learn from the "masters." In this case, St. Ignatius Loyola.
I have a beef with how we Christian's do discipleship. We are big on knowledge and short on process. That is, we encourage people to pray, but we do a poor job of teaching them how to actually do it. We say we should have a relationship with God, but we do a poor job of actually teaching how you actually go about having a relationship with an invisible God.
I think other religious traditions do a much better job of discipleship. In Buddhism, you actually train under a Master.
How long would it have taken you to learn how to pray like prayer of examen by trial and error?
I want to stand on the shoulders of giants. I want to learn from those that have gone before me. So I say, bring on the plans, methods and formulas! They provide excellent starting points.
Well, here is where I can agree with where you are coming from. Yes, ultimately, prayer is a private thing between you and God and the way a particular individual does prayer is likely to be like no one elses.
Maybe we should start over. What is prayer? You say it is a conversation. I can see that. You can certainly see many examples of Jesus praying like this. So, I and most would agree with you.
But does "conversation" capture it all? Are there any other descriptions or definitions of prayer? Go do dictionary.com and wikipedia and see how you might expand your definition of prayer. Can you list different ways you might pray based on these definitions?
How about looking at Jesus. Check out John 14:10; Mark 1:13; Mark 1:35; Mark 6:46-47. What do you make of these verses? Flesh it out a little. Not a lot of detail here about prayer itself, but there are some concrete charactersitics. What are they? Once you have them, then read between the lines a little. What do you Jesus did during this "prayer" time?
In Dictionary.com, one of the definitions included "communion" (interchange or sharing of thoughts or emotions; intimate communication)with God. I thought that was interesting.
Here are some of the characteristics I see in those verses. 1) Jesus seemed to get away semi-regularly; 2) he often went away alone and to a secluded place (solitude); 3) he was usually there for for a chunk of time (from hours to 40 days); 4) he went there to pray; and 5) he came out of these times and was quite busy about his work where he did and said what the Father told him (the John passage). These are the facts.
We have to speculate, but read between the lines a bit. What do you think he did for those hours and days? Think he came with a long list of things he wanted to ask the Father to do or people to bless or heal? Was he trying to micromanage things: God fix this, do this, change this?
You can get a hint of what he probably did by looking closer at the John passage. How did he know what the Father wanted him to say and do?
How was Jesus able to walk through the noisy, pushing crowds and be sensitive to the bleeding woman's touch or Zacheaus up in the tree?
There are also a number of people in the bible that describe their interaction with God as more subtle. For example: 1 Kings 19:10-15.
God can do whatever he wants. If he wants to speak to someone out loud, he can. The question is does he do it very much? Have you ever heard GOd speak to you in an audible voice? Know anybody that has? I am not sure I ever have.
I have talked with lots of Christians that say things like "God told me..." But when you pin them down, it was something less than an audible voice. More like a strong impression.
If this is the case, it takes nothing away from God. He can talk to you audibly, but probably won't. He has his reasons. So, I would not sit around waiting for him to talk to you in an audible voice. If you do it is highly likely, almost certainly, that you will be dissappointed. If he does, consider it a miracle.
This does not mean God does not "speak" to us. He most certainly does. Just not like I would.
I have had strong impressions that seem as real as an audible voice. I have had people tell me things that I was convinced was from God. But these are different from hearing an audible voice from God, one that comes from outside my head and sounds like you a person talking to me.
So much for the rabbit trail.
So, other than during the transfiguration, what do you think Jesus did a lot of during his prayer time? What did he have to do to be able to hear his Father? What did he have to practice in order to be so sensitive while he was engaged in the world?
I agree.
To listen, you have to stop talking. To do what the Father wants, you have to listen. To be sensitive to the leading of the Spirit, you have to learn how to live life from your heart, not distracted by an overactive mind.
So Jesus practiced semi-regular solitude and silence. He sensed when it was time to get away. Often, the Spirit led him. Getting away appears to be key to what he was able to do as he was busy about his ministry.
A disciple learns how to be like Jesus and to do what he did.
Who can teach us how to do what he did?
I think it is an excellent idea! As long as we keep the right attitude about it. One the one hand, Jesus said we should do what we do in private, not to look good in other's eyes. But I do not think that is our motive. Hopefully it would be something that would glorify God and encourage others.
I already have a nice digital camera you could use. This would be a great task for either the Marketing Team or the Human Resources Team. You wanting to do this?
As far as your previous comment, yes, the bible is a great place to start. We are doing some of that. The problem is that the bible tends to be short on process, probably for good reason. That is, it tells us to pray, but does not give too many specifics on how to pray (lots of examples of people doing it, though).
I also like that idea that God himself can teach us. I feel like that is how I have learned a lot. This would involve asking for guidance, and having faith that he will lead us.
Another is to learn from those followers of Jesus that have gone before us. Thus, the original post on prayer of examen. This has worked for others Godly people in the past and withstood the test of time. Bottom line, it works.
Do you think the Holy Spirit is leading you to try something like this?
I think you need to mention your idea to your Work Team and see who else might be interested in helping you. I think it is an awesome idea!
Yes, pray for guidance. Pray, pray, pray. That is where it has to start. Pray, then look and pay attention to see how and where He will give it. Remember, it may not be in the earthquake.
You want to sleep out with the homeless this Friday night with me and Zack?
We will be just sleeping out on Friday. On Saturday, we will hang with the homeless in the morning and head over to Philander Smith to help out with a homeless outreach event. If you need to leave earlier and can arrange for someone to come pick you up, you can leave anytime you want.
We will pick our Work Groups and have our first meeting a week from this Sunday.
That's fine. Most parents wouldn't. Safety is never gaureteed, but this year, there should be a fairly large group (there is some safety in numbers), along with the Govener's wife, so we should have lots of state police watching out for us!
Keep us in your prayers.
Just like last time, it was incredible (everything except only sleeping 1/2 hour). I am sorry you couldn't go, you would have learned so much. You will have your chance, sometime.
Zack went with me. He learned in one night, what otherwise would have taken him 10 years. Hopefully, we can talk about it at youth a bit this next week.
Three homeless teenagers getting baptized in the middle of the night in the park fountain by two pentecostal brothers who slept out with us.
The police were watching us closely, thanks to the gov's wife.
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