Khalil Gibran on Prayer

THEN a priestess said, “Speak to us of Prayer.”
And he answered, saying:
You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance.

For what is prayer but the expansion of your self into the living ether?
And if it is for your comfort to pour your darkness into space, it is also for your delight to pour forth the dawning of your heart.

And if you cannot but weep when your soul summons you to prayer, she should spur you again and yet again, though weeping, until you shall come laughing.
When you pray you rise to meet in the air those who are praying at that very hour, and whom save in prayer you may not meet.

Therefore let your visit to that temple invisible be for naught but ecstasy and sweet communion.
For if you should enter the temple for no other purpose than asking you shall not receive:
And if you should enter into it to humble yourself you shall not be lifted:
Or even if you should enter into it to beg for the good of others you shall not be heard.
It is enough that you enter the temple invisible.

I cannot teach you how to pray in words.

God listens not to your words save when He Himself utters them through your lips.
And I cannot teach you the prayer of the seas and the forests and the mountains.
But you who are born of the mountains and the forests and the seas can find their prayer in your heart,

And if you but listen in the stillness of the night you shall hear them saying in silence:
“Our God, who art our winged self, it is thy will in us that willeth.
“It is thy desire in us that desireth.
“It is thy urge in us that would turn our nights, which are thine, into days, which are thine also.
“We cannot ask thee for aught, for thou knowest our needs before they are born in us:
“Thou art our need; and in giving us more of thyself thou givest us all.”

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Making Life a Prayer

From Weavings Newsletter April 2011

Making Life a Prayer

The nature of the soul is aptly compared to a very fine feather or very light wing. If it has not been damaged or spoiled by any moisture falling on it, it is borne aloft almost naturally to the heights of heaven by the lightness of its nature and the aid of the slightest breath. But if it is weighted by any moisture falling upon it and penetrating it, it will not only not be carried away by its natural lightness into any aerial flights but will actually be dragged down to the depths of earth by the weight of the moisture it has received.
So also the soul, if it is not weighted with faults that touch it and the cares of this world or damaged by the moisture of injurious lusts, will be raised by the natural blessing of its own purity and borne aloft to the heights by the light breath of spiritual meditation. Leaving things low and earthly, it will be transported to those that are heavenly  and invisible.

So we are well warned by the Lord's command: "Be on your guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkeness and the worries of this life." If we want our prayers to reach not only the sky but what is beyond the sky, let us be careful to reduce the soul, purged from all earthly faults and purified from every strain, to its natural lightness. Then our prayers may rise to God unchecked by the weight of any sin.

Cassian uses the image of feathers to describe the soul in prayer. What images of prayer and the soul are meaningful to you?

[1] John Cassian,  Making Life a Prayer: Selected Writings of John Cassian, ed. Keith Beasley-Topliffe, Upper Room Spiritual Classics, (Nashville: Upper Room Books), 49.

Frederica Mathewes-Green on the Jesus Prayer

"The topic was the Jesus Prayer but I expanded it to Eastern Christian spiritual disciplines in general, and said a bit about the Christ of Sinai."

Thomas Merton's Prayer

MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

The Challenge of Fixed Hour Prayers

An article about fixed hour prayers with link to some resources from Leadership online. Are you game to try it?

Finding Myself in Fixed-Hour Prayer
How praying the Daily Offices is uniting a church in the Spirit.
by Ken Wilson

I stumbled on fixed-hour prayer about eight years ago. After my father passed away, I found my energy levels really low, and I couldn't sustain my usual devotional life. I did all the regular things: the ACTS acrostic and extemporaneous prayer. I replicated prayer meetings on a one-on-one basis. But nothing seemed to work. I had heard a priest talk about the Daily Office, so, even though it sounded like cheating to me, I thought I would try reading other people's prayers.

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A Celtic Blessing

May the road rise up to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the sun shine down upon your face.
And the rain fall soft upon your fields
Until we meet again
May God hold you in the hollow of his hand

Praying Brother Lawrence

The Limping, Unceasingly Praying Brother Lawrence
How a 17th-century cook and sandalmaker still helps us practice the presence of God.
Compiled and adapted by Carmen Acevedo Butcher

Googling "Brother Lawrence" yields over 2,000,000 hits—astonishing for a person with an unremarkable biography and a rather thin writing portfolio, including one short essay called The Spiritual Maxims; 16 letters to several nuns, a spiritual director, and one or two laywomen; and four recorded conversations. Born Nicolas Herman in 1614 in a small village in Lorraine, France, he had a soul-altering experience at 18.


Finish this article from ChristianHistory.net.

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The Jesus Prayer

‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner’

The Jesus Prayer components

• ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me , a sinner’
• Christological hymn of Philippians 2:6-11
• The parable of the Publican and the Pharisee, in which the Pharisee demonstrates the improper way to pray by exclaiming: "Thank you Lord that I am not like the Publican", whereas the Publican prays correctly in humility, saying "Lord have mercy on me, a sinner" (Luke 18:10-14).

The Jesus Prayer

• Paul teaches us to ‘pray unceasingly’ (1 Thess 5:17)
• It is also linked to the Song of Solomon's passage from the Old Testament: "I sleep, but my heart is awake" (Song of Solomon 5:2)
• The analogy being that as a lover is always conscious to his or her beloved, people can also achieve a state of "constant prayer" where they are always conscious of God's presence in their lives.
• Prayer of the heart
• The Jesus Prayer is composed of two statements. The first one is a statement of faith, acknowledging the divine nature of Christ. The second one is the acknowledgment of one’s own sinfulness.
• Out of them the petition itself emerges: "have mercy."
• The Jesus Prayer is, first of all, a prayer addressed to God. It's not a means of self-deifying or self-deliverance.
• The aim is not to be dissolved or absorbed into nothingness or into God, or reach another state of mind, but to (re)unite with God (which by itself is a process) while remaining a distinct person.
• It is an invocation of Jesus' name, not vain repetition
• Acknowledging "a sinner" is to lead firstly to a state of humbleness and repentance, recognizing one's own sinfulness.
• Practicing the Jesus Prayer is strongly linked to mastering passions of both soul and body, e.g. by fasting.
• Unlike mantras, the Jesus Prayer may be translated into whatever language the pray-er customarily uses. The emphasis is on the meaning, not on the mere utterance of certain sounds.
• There is no emphasis on the psychosomatic techniques

picture source
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Prayer of the Father of the Bride

The pomp and ceremonies of the wedding are over, the last revelers have gone home and the young couple has embarked on their honeymoon. Here am I, O Lord, sitting quietly before you. I wish to thank you for the privilege of being the father of the bride. My heart is bursting with gratitude that come from your wonderful generosity. When I first held my little girl in my arms - so small, warm, fragile and beautiful – I know that it is pure grace that brought her into my life. As I watch her grow from a baby to childhood and gradually blossom into womanhood, I can feel your presence in our little family and your smile upon us all. Father, I confess that I have not been a good father but I have been trying my best. For whatever my shortcomings have been in bringing her up, I trust in your Holy Spirit to fill in the gaps.

Father, I pray that you will help her to become the helpmate to the man you have so carefully chosen for her. Let them be anamcara to each other. Now, they have to learn from each other. Please give them lots of grace for each occasion, overflowing with forgiveness, and joy in their new life together. May their love grow into hesed love – a covenant love of commitment.

As they grow closer to each other, let them grow closer to you, O Lord, the originator and finisher of their faith. And as they begin their journey together, may they partake of the goodness of your table fellowship, drink deep of your living water, and dive deep into your fathomless depths. You are a self-revealing God. Please help them to appreciate your presence in their everyday life. May they grow in their marriage as they grow deeper into knowing and becoming like your Son. Yet in their growing, let them allow one another to reach their full potential as themselves, not as each other’s expectation, but as their own unique personalities.

As you have taught us, there is a season for everything. There will be times of great rejoicing and there will be times of great sorrow. Here, in the springtime of their marriage, give them joy as they discover the pleasures of each other. Protect them with your angels and build a hedge around them that they may be safe from pettiness and violence of this world. Lead them to your communities of faith that will nurture and nourish them in all ways. Give them a sense of vocation and involve them in your missio dei.

Father, help me to ‘let go’ of my little girl and to welcome a new ‘son’ into my family. It is a time of transition for me and my joy is bitter-sweet. This is a new experience for me though I know that many fathers have walked this path through time immemorial. I must now take on a different role. Teach me, O Lord, to be a blessing to them.

18 July 2009

Prayer to Christ

Perfect what you have begun,
and give me what you have made me long for,
not because I deserve it, but because of your kindness
that came first to me.

Most merciful Lord,
transform my tepid heart into one that loves you ardently.
I thirst for you, I hunger for you, I desire you,
I sigh for you, I covet you:
I am like an orphan taken
from a compassionate father.
Weeping and wailing, with all its heart the orphan
constantly clings to that dear face.

Anselm
"Prayer to Christ"

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Does Prayer helps Healing?

Does prayer help the sick? Read these articles and let me know what you think.

What Do Prayer Studies Prove? When a landmark study suggests that intercessory prayer may actually hurt patients instead of help them, you have to wonder. By Gregory Fung and Christopher Fung

read more

Related Elsewhere:

For more analysis of previous prayer studies, see intercessoryprayerstudies.com.

Christianity Today has more articles on science & health and prayer & spirituality including:

Man Up, Christians Resisting the health and longevity gospel. (March 26, 2009)

Does Faith Prolong Suffering for Cancer Patients? A new study suggests that cancer patients who are religious are more likely to seek measures that attempt to prolong life. (March 26, 2009)

Doctors Who Pray, Part 1 (of 3) How the medical community is discovering the healing power of prayer. (January 6, 1997)

Does Prayer helps Healing?

Does prayer help the sick? Read these articles and let me know what you think.

What Do Prayer Studies Prove? When a landmark study suggests that intercessory prayer may actually hurt patients instead of help them, you have to wonder. By Gregory Fung and Christopher Fung

read more

Related Elsewhere:

For more analysis of previous prayer studies, see intercessoryprayerstudies.com.

Christianity Today has more articles on science & health and prayer & spirituality including:

Man Up, Christians Resisting the health and longevity gospel. (March 26, 2009)

Does Faith Prolong Suffering for Cancer Patients? A new study suggests that cancer patients who are religious are more likely to seek measures that attempt to prolong life. (March 26, 2009)

Doctors Who Pray, Part 1 (of 3) How the medical community is discovering the healing power of prayer. (January 6, 1997)

Philip Yancey on Prayer During Financial Crisis

Christianity Today, January, 2009

A Surefire Investment

How to pray in the midst of financial catastrophe.

Philip Yancey | posted 2/03/2009 10:22AM

Historians will look at the year that just ended as a financial tsunami that left in its wake millions of foreclosed homes, bankruptcies, and lost jobs. As if competing to abandon the basic tenets of capitalism, governments threw money at banks, investment companies, and huge insurers in an attempt to restore trust and stanch the flow of capital.

During one of the most volatile periods, a week in which global stock markets declined by $7 trillion, I received a call from an editor at Time. "You wrote a book on prayer, right?" he said. "Tell me, how should a person pray during a crisis like this?" In the course of the conversation, we came up with a three-stage approach to prayer.

read more

Philip Yancey on Prayer During Financial Crisis

Christianity Today, January, 2009

A Surefire Investment

How to pray in the midst of financial catastrophe.

Philip Yancey | posted 2/03/2009 10:22AM

Historians will look at the year that just ended as a financial tsunami that left in its wake millions of foreclosed homes, bankruptcies, and lost jobs. As if competing to abandon the basic tenets of capitalism, governments threw money at banks, investment companies, and huge insurers in an attempt to restore trust and stanch the flow of capital.

During one of the most volatile periods, a week in which global stock markets declined by $7 trillion, I received a call from an editor at Time. "You wrote a book on prayer, right?" he said. "Tell me, how should a person pray during a crisis like this?" In the course of the conversation, we came up with a three-stage approach to prayer.

read more

The Serenity Prayer-Enya (may it be)

The Serenity Prayer is a prayer written by Reinhold Niebuhr on July 1, 1943. Early in World War II, the prayer was printed on cards and distributed to the troops by the U.S.O. However, the prayer is reported to have been used before that date in Twelve-step programs for those recovering from hurts, habits, addictions and hang-ups.

The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

--Reinhold Niebuhr

The Serenity Prayer-Enya (may it be)

The Serenity Prayer is a prayer written by Reinhold Niebuhr on July 1, 1943. Early in World War II, the prayer was printed on cards and distributed to the troops by the U.S.O. However, the prayer is reported to have been used before that date in Twelve-step programs for those recovering from hurts, habits, addictions and hang-ups.

The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

--Reinhold Niebuhr

Re:Connect: Spiritual Exercises to Develop Intimacy with God

This is an new excellent book on prayer by my friend David Sherbino (Hot off the press). David is professor of Pastoral Ministries and Spiritual Formation at Tyndale Seminary and minister at Cornerstone Community Church (PCC) Kleinburg in Ontario, Canada.

Unlike most books on prayer which discuss about prayer, this book actually teaches you how to pray. The book is structured such that one can pray for seven weeks with daily prayer readings for each day. There is also a section for praying through the church year.

I have enjoyed praying through it and find it very helpful.

The problem is that it is only available from:
Tyndale Bookstore
25, Ballyconnor Court
Toronto ON
M2M 4B3
Tel: 416 226 6746, ext. 2188

David will be coming over to Malaysia and Singapore next year and I hope he will bring some copies.
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Re:Connect: Spiritual Exercises to Develop Intimacy with God

This is an new excellent book on prayer by my friend David Sherbino (Hot off the press). David is professor of Pastoral Ministries and Spiritual Formation at Tyndale Seminary and minister at Cornerstone Community Church (PCC) Kleinburg in Ontario, Canada.

Unlike most books on prayer which discuss about prayer, this book actually teaches you how to pray. The book is structured such that one can pray for seven weeks with daily prayer readings for each day. There is also a section for praying through the church year.

I have enjoyed praying through it and find it very helpful.

The problem is that it is only available from:
Tyndale Bookstore
25, Ballyconnor Court
Toronto ON
M2M 4B3
Tel: 416 226 6746, ext. 2188

David will be coming over to Malaysia and Singapore next year and I hope he will bring some copies.
.

An Invitation to a Retreat (3)

A Retreat Prayer

Lord, here we are in Your presence. We have left behind our families, our jobs, our responsibilities and obligations, our friends and community to be with You in this retreat. Let us place the care and protection of our families, our jobs, our responsibilities and obligations, our friends and community in Your care and protection. Give us the peace and confidence that You will take good care of them in our absence.

Father, we approach You with great expectations and fear. We have high expectations in this encounter with you. Yet we are fearful because in Your light and holiness, we may discover things about ourselves that we are not comfortable with. Help us to discover and face the truth about ourselves. May the Holy Spirit works powerfully within our hearts, minds, and souls. May we rediscover ourselves in new ways and give us the strength to be transformed to the likeness of Your Son. Give us more love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Father, we ask for a more intense revelation of Yourself to us in this retreat. We want to know You, know more of You and to love You. Help us to break the many false concepts of You that we have developed over the years, some of which we have made into idols. Help us to know You as revealed in Your Son, Jesus Christ.

Give us the grace to follow you. The road ahead is hard and rugged. We are afraid, O Lord. We are afraid of pain and suffering. We are afraid of things that you may ask us to give up. We are afraid of illness, loneliness, dryness, despair and constant stress. Know our weaknesses and be gentle with us. Forgive us in our failures when You test us. As you make a saint of St. Peter, make a saint of us, we pray.

Most of all, Lord. We ask that You will show us the splendour of what You have given us: our life in You; a life lived here on earth with Christ. We ask that You show us and lead us into simplicity of life and of heart. Lord, help us to know You in our daily life, to know You in the breaking of bread, in song, in fellowship, and in the cleansing of our hearts by penitence and prayer.

In the Name of Your Son we pray.

Amen

An Invitation to a Retreat (3)

A Retreat Prayer

Lord, here we are in Your presence. We have left behind our families, our jobs, our responsibilities and obligations, our friends and community to be with You in this retreat. Let us place the care and protection of our families, our jobs, our responsibilities and obligations, our friends and community in Your care and protection. Give us the peace and confidence that You will take good care of them in our absence.

Father, we approach You with great expectations and fear. We have high expectations in this encounter with you. Yet we are fearful because in Your light and holiness, we may discover things about ourselves that we are not comfortable with. Help us to discover and face the truth about ourselves. May the Holy Spirit works powerfully within our hearts, minds, and souls. May we rediscover ourselves in new ways and give us the strength to be transformed to the likeness of Your Son. Give us more love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Father, we ask for a more intense revelation of Yourself to us in this retreat. We want to know You, know more of You and to love You. Help us to break the many false concepts of You that we have developed over the years, some of which we have made into idols. Help us to know You as revealed in Your Son, Jesus Christ.

Give us the grace to follow you. The road ahead is hard and rugged. We are afraid, O Lord. We are afraid of pain and suffering. We are afraid of things that you may ask us to give up. We are afraid of illness, loneliness, dryness, despair and constant stress. Know our weaknesses and be gentle with us. Forgive us in our failures when You test us. As you make a saint of St. Peter, make a saint of us, we pray.

Most of all, Lord. We ask that You will show us the splendour of what You have given us: our life in You; a life lived here on earth with Christ. We ask that You show us and lead us into simplicity of life and of heart. Lord, help us to know You in our daily life, to know You in the breaking of bread, in song, in fellowship, and in the cleansing of our hearts by penitence and prayer.

In the Name of Your Son we pray.

Amen