Living Prayer

Take my life and let it be, a living prayer, my God to Thee.

As far as I know the above lyrics from the Allison Krauss song were not written in response to Henri Nouwen's book With Open Hands, but if they were, it would certainly fit. After all, both the song and the book are essentially about the same thing, learning that prayer isn't a moment, but a manner of being. Sculpturally this makes sense, as we are instructed to "Pray continually" (I Thess. 5:17) something that simply can not be if prayer is a single act. Instead, prayer must be something beyond a formal appeal before our Heavenly Father. Allison Krause's song, and Henri Nouwen's book explains how this can be.

For readers unfamiliar with Nouwen, I must first tell you, rectify this right away. Nouwen is the author of many books including my two (so far) favorites, Life of the Beloved, and Here & Now. Reading Nouwen though is all the more meaningful when you know a little about his life. As the jacket on With Open Hands reveals, Nouwen was an Ivy-League professor before he gave up his life of ivory-tower privilege to spend the balance of his Earthly time serving in a community of developmentally disabled men and women. This is important, because as you read Nouwen's book on prayer, you realize that he's not merely writing theological theory, but you are perhaps getting a glimpse into his own journey of Heavenly conversation. The book developed as a result of a series of exchanges with some of his students, but one also gets the impression that it developed as a result of a life educated through practice.

What does With Open Hands have to teach us about a topic that is nearly as old as the Earth? They are four main lessons that will have a profound impact upon your life of prayer.

1) Prayer is exposure - True prayer is being open before God - acknowledging our complete unworthiness in the light of His holiness. Prayer, therefore, is not a time to merely speak, but to listen. To acknowledge who God is, and that we are not Him, and to, with gratefulness, remember that we while we shouldn't be able to approach Him, He has provided a way to make it so.

2) Prayer is acceptance - As Nouwen writes "Those who live prayerfully are constantly ready to receive the breath of God and let their lives be renewed and expanded." (p. 54). Prayer, therefore, is not about getting God to bid to our will, but is about aligning our will with His. In doing so, "you become a person...capable of standing open to all the gifts which are prepared for you." (p. 52).

3) Prayer demonstrates faith - It is common to say of prayer, "there are no athiests in the foxhole." This is becuase even those that choose not to acknowledge God in their daily lives, turn to Him when life feels like a war zone. In other words, they choose to trust that something greater than them can intercept their lives and change the perceived trajectory. Continuous prayer, is a demonstration that not only do we trust God in the trying moments, but that we "put our lives in the hand of God." (p. 77)

4) Prayer is not primarily about us. - Nouwen writes, "If you are to have a future, it will be a future together with others" (p. 81). Profound words from a man who would give up Earthly comfort to live in a community of need. C.S. Lewis is given the attribution of writing, "I do not pray to change God; I pray to change me." The more we faithfully come to prayer and risk exposure, the more we align ourselves with God's purposes in our lives. And God's purpose is that our lives would be use to change the lives of others. Prayer therefore is not primarily a means for us to get what we want, but is an opportunity to be more like Christ as we intercede for the needs of others.

"With Open Hands" is a quick read, but it is by no means an easy one. Nouwen will challenge and stretch your concept of prayer, and in doing so, you will gain a new perspective on what it means to converse with God.


Question for comment: Why do man find it so hard to be faithful in prayer?

Privilege of Praying

Hang around Christian circles long enough and you're bound to hear someone say "I'll pray for you." It's words that are often uttered with very good intentions, and I'm afraid are also frequently accompanied with a lack of follow-through. It has become the godly thing to say when someone is faced with a situation or affliction which we are ill-equipped to assist with. Offering prayer has become routine rather than responsive. It's become commonplace instead of being a commitment.

Some people have recognized the blitheness by which we often offer to pray and mitigate their response. They say things like "I'll try to remember to pray" or "I'll pray if I think of it." By couching their response in less unequivocal terms they do well to not bind themselves to a commitment they may be unwilling to fulfill. However, it seems this equivocation is not the answer. For I'm convinced that if we truly recognize the privilege it is to pray for someone our response would be one of gracious gratitude not obligation.

Prayer, after all, is the way we communicate with God. Through Christ's sacrifice, we're able to talk to the Creator. Praying for someone means not only do we get the joy of conversing with our Father, but we are joining alongside Him in the work He is doing in that person's life. Praying for another is our way of ministering - not only to them - but in interceding with God for the work He is accomplishing in their lives. Prayer then becomes a privilege and I"m convinced that the more we recognized this, the more earnestly we would pray on other's behalves.

For most of us, we will never have the opportunity to advocate our position to the president, or present our plea before a head of state, but for Christians, we have the joy of asking for someone else's good from the Ruler of the Universe. May we not foolishly minimize the great responsibility and the great privilege that this opportunity is.

The Assent of Silence

In Regarding Henry, Harrison Ford memorably quipped to his movie daughter, "Silence is taken as assent." (If that's not verbatim, my apologies. It's been years since I've seen the movie and a quick Google search was no help.) The title character makes this declaration in an effort to justify yet another night away from his family, a justification that in the film, he soon regrets.

Although the line may not be a good governing standard for human relationships, it does offer us some advice to heed when it comes to our relationship with God. I was reminded of this fact recently when, as I mentally griped about the rough day I was having, the soundtrack of a worship song played almost unconsciously in my mind. As I was mentally throwing myself a pity party for all that hadn't gone as planned, my heart was singing, "Savior please rescue me." The contrast was remarkable. It was as if my soul knew the proper response, even when my flesh didn't.

What I recognized this duality - singing a song of adoration while bemoaning the unrealized expectations of this life - I immediately knew that the problem was that I hadn't taken the problems I was experiencing and brought them to my Savior. I knew that instead of grumbling about what I hadn't received, I needed to stand silently before His throne as I reminder of all that I had been given. Instead of loudly declaring the injustices I was suffering, I needed to silently assent to my Father's will recognizing that it is His job to call the plays, it's my job to follow. If I'm too busy talking, I won't hear what He's saying.

This is not to say we aren't authentic in our prayers. I believe God wants to hear our needs, and is in fact honored when we take our requests before Him. However, so often when I pray, it's about telling the Lord what I want, what my desires for this life are and how I think things should be. There must be times of listening too, of having our hearts silent before the Lord assenting to what He will reveal and what He has already called us to be. Times where our opinions cease and our obedience begins.

***Update**** - In God's good providence, after writing this blog, my before-bed reading began with the following, "Deep silence leads us to realize that prayer is, above all, acceptance" - Henri Nouwen, With Open Hands. Truly, silence is assent.

Earth, Wind and Time

I've always thought that I had a great belief in the power of prayer. I know in my head that God can do anything and I've articulated that to people who are going through pain. However, the belief in the power of prayer often falters when I'm going through my own trials. I know that I should be praying, but I often want to figure out a way out of the mess myself. I know that I need to turn to God, but I often turn to my own reasoning and "wisdom." Prideful, yes. Effective, no.

What God has taught me in the past few days is that not only does He theoretically have power over all, He has trustworthy control over it. This was demonstrated to me in two unrelated ways. First, in a moment of stress caused by several unexpected time constraints, a new friend grabbed my hand to pray. As she prayed she stated that we knew God controlled time and so He could enable me to accomplish things that I didn't think I had the time to do. Secondly, as Hurricane Gustav approached and time and time again I heard people asked for the destruction to be minimal, I was reminded that God controlled the storm's path. Prayer for it to change direction was just as appropriate as prayer for its projected outcome. The interesting thing was that neither my personal storm, or Hurricane Gustav were as devastating as originally projected. And while I don't know all of God's reasons for changing the path of each, I do know that one of the outcomes has been a recognition that often I pray to God for the things I know I can't do anything about - storms, sickness, and the such. But often I neglect to turn to Him in the more simple things of life like meeting my deadlines and keeping my commitments. Gustav and God have taught me that its not just the dramatic that He cares about - or in which He intervenes. Even the clock bows to His commands.

Blessed Through the Asking

In college, I learned that when someone told me there problems, there was a tendency to say "I'll pray for you" and then promptly forget that commitment. I started saying "I'll try to remember to pray for you." It was a little more honest, and a little less comforting. It wasn't the first time in my life (nor do I think it will be the last) that I thought telling the truth was more important than protecting someone's feelings.

The strange thing was, I found that as I made this caveated commitment, I was more apt to recall the person's request when I went to my quiet time. Maybe it was because I took the time to form an honest response, but for whatever reason, I was more likely to remember to pray for the person in need when I didn't flippantly agree to. It drove me to pray more which contained wonderful lessons in and of itself.

One of the lessons that I learned was that prayer is a wondrous and mysterious act and its impact is hard to quantify. Despite this lack of clarity as to the end result, I've found that regardless of the answer there is always benefit in the asking. In asking we acknowledge our lack of control and God's completeness of it. We signify our reliance on the will of the One who created all to manage the details of that creation. Prayer is an act of humility because regardless of the outcome, the simple utterance demonstrates that we believe God is God, and we're not.

In this lesson, I've learned that the answers to prayers often exceed my capacity to understand them, but always, I'm blessed through the asking.

God's Busy

When I first heard "God Must Be Busy" by Brooks and Dunn I changed the channel. I take my faith pretty seriously and the fact that God answers prayer is a cornerstone of that belief. The song implies that God's seeming lack of answer to a specific prayer is due to the fact that He is otherwise engaged. The artists sing:

And I know in the big picture
I'm just a speck of sand
and God's got better things to do
than look out for one man.
I know he's heard my prayers
cause he hears everything,
he just ain't answered back
or he'd bring you back to me.
God must be busy.

Because I considered it an affront that the song implied that God was ignoring the prayer because He was paying attention to something else, I turned the dial and listened to another, hopefully more uplifting country tune (and for those of you who haven't discovered the beauty of country music, that is not an oxymoron.) I don't like the implication that God ignores any prayer - let alone the prayer of a heart that is broken.

The second time I heard the song though, I realized that the artists were, quite unintentionally, kind of right. The song implied that God was busy and that therefore He hadn't responded. While I don't think God's busyness prevents His response, God is busy.When you think about how big this world is, and how much time God spends showering us each with His grace, you have to believe that He has the world's best Palm Pilot. Otherwise, there would be no time to get all of those blessings in. Whether He's preventing harm or delivering good, He is busy demonstrating His love - often to people who will never reciprocate. Even holding back the gates of Hell is a demonstration of His magnanimousness. And holding back the gates of Hell must be a pretty consuming task. We think that God is too busy for us, but the truth is, He's busy with us - constantly working for our good. After all, "God works all things for the good of those who love Him" (Ro. 8:28) and that's got to take some time and resources.

When Daniel prayed and didn't receive an answer, it wasn't because God hadn't responded. He had sent His angel and the angel had to battle to get there (See Daniel 10.) If we call on God and think we've got a busy signal, the chance is its because He's calling His angels on our behalf.

Where Strength is Found

One of my favorite songs from Third Day's live albums starts with the lead singer, Max Powell, stating, "I can't go on. I can't go on" and then turning to a bandmate he asks "Can you go on?" After receiving an answer in the affirmative, the show continues.

This probably well-rehearsed skit is amusing and relatable because we've also been in situations where we feel like we can't go on. Whether we're playing a live concert or we're faced with seemingly insurmountable life challenges, every one knows what it feels like to be spent. Some seem to get more than their fair share than others, but everyone gets to that place sometime. It's the moment of complete helplessness, and if we allow, the moment of complete surrender.

"There are no athiests in the foxhole" is an old saying that demonstrates are susceptibility to turning towards God when our needs are mostly strongly felt. Many times however in turning to God in our moments of desperation, we ask for rescue and not for Him. We seek escape not His presence. We ask for relief and miss the opportunity for growth.

Luis Palau said, "When you face the perils of weariness, carelessness, and
confusion, don't pray for an easier life. Pray instead to be a stronger man or woman of God." May this always be our prayer.

The Price of A Prayer

How much would you pay for a prayer? Not how much would you pray to know that your prayer would be answered, but what is someone else's outpouring to God worth to you? What is the cost of knowing the inner despair of another's soul?

Soon we'll know the answer to that question. Yahoo News recently reported that a man found a bunch of prayer letters washed up on the beach. Addressed to a now-deceased pastor, the prayers ranged from humorous requests to win the lottery to serious requests for assistance. Most of them were never opened until they appeared on the sand.

In a society where it seems like even people's souls have a price tag, the man is auctioning the letters on E-bay. It's just another example of the sacred becoming secular, of profaning for profit. Even the unspoken prayers of a soul in anguish are no longer protected. They're just another means of exposure and intrigue.

Imagine if you were one of those people whose letters were being sold; if a stranger could now read about the abuse you suffered or the grief you experienced. What would you do if your prayers were put on public display so that another could make a buck?

Thankfully, while there may be some embarrassment and unresolved issues, the people who wrote the letters have little need of real worry. Although the letters remained unopened, their Father in heaven heard their prayers long ago. And He's already paid the greatest price.

Watch & Pray

"Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap . . . Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man." - Luke 21: 34, 36

I used to tell people that I was a world-class worrier. (When I said it, it sounded like a world-class warrior – which I am definitely not). I am the only person I know who got stress headaches in fourth grade. What I had to worry about back then, I have no idea, but I created something and whatever it was, I figured that if I thought about it enough, I'd be able to change the situation.

My skills at worrying only improved with time. Being an introspective person I thought about the world's problems as well as my own. Somehow, I figured that it was my responsibility to do everything I could to right all wrongs. And if there was nothing, the least I could do was think. What I couldn't control, I could try to solve.

I realized a few years ago how unproductive this was. Not only was it compromising my health, but I realized that worrying never changed the situation. I faced what many people consider the ultimate concern – what would happen when I die – and I realized I knew the end of the story. If the finale was taken care of, there was no need to worry about the intermission. The ending was going to be the same regardless, and even if I didn't know when or how, I knew what my destination was going to be.

What I hadn't considered until recently was how quickly I forget. Having dealt with the ultimate concern, I still get stressed over some little things in life. Not as often as I used to, and with a lot more humor, but I still worry. It's silly and pointless and I know that, but I let life's burdens get me down. And my burdens aren't even that great to bear.

The Gospel of Luke provides the remedy. Watch and Pray. Watch – be aware of what is around, the temptation to doubt, and what difficulties there may be. Pray – to walk with wisdom, resist when necessary, and overcome defeat. With these two armaments, we can avoid life's anxieties and rest in Christ's peace.

Worrying never accomplished much for me; I doubt it did for anyone else. When I follow Christ's instructions my thoughts are on Him and I'm mindful of all that's under His command. I am no longer consumed with my thoughts but I'm focused on all He is. And if that's not a cure for worrying, I don't know what is.