In response to an article in TCW magazine
by Rosemary ~ January 27th, 2007Yesterday I read a post by Jules at Everyday Mommy and the fifty-nine comments that followed it. The topic of discussion was an article in the current Today’s Christian Woman magazine titled “Fresh air–3 practices to breathe life into your conversations with God” by Keri Wyatt Kent, who is a regular contributor to TCW. I had read the article previously, and was disturbed by what I read.
In speaking about her former “quiet time,” the author states, “those times, filled with words–the words I read, studied, wrote, or whispered toward the ceiling, (italics mine) wondering if God even heard–felt like anything but quiet. They felt more like “doing” times–as in completing tasks on a list. And, truth be told, sometimes they also felt like “doing time,” as in punishment or an obligation.”
The author’s response to her dissatisfaction with her “quiet time” was to find and write about three practices, “ways to spend time with Jesus so you can let him give you that abundant, full life.” They are: 1. Deep listening, 2. Breath prayer, and 3. Being there.
She writes, “Deep listening (Lectio Divina) is a way to meditate on Scripture by listening and then responding–breathing in God’s Word, breathing out a prayer….In Lectio Divina, I listen to what God wants to say just to me through the text…Try this: Read a short passage of Scipture slowly, noticing which word seems to jump off the page…Reflect on the word or phrase; listen for God’s invitation. Be quiet; let that word draw you into prayer, into wordless companionship with God.” “Breath prayer is a short prayer that can be prayed in the space of one breath…It focuses on God, but names your deepest need….a breath prayer is a way of filling your mind–but with God alone. It’s like sitting in companionable silence with God, not having to talk but being aware of is company and how his very presence meets your deepest needs.” “Gospel meditation, or “being there,” has traditionally been called the Ignatian Method, after Saint Ignatius of Loyola. He instructed his followers to spend time with Jesus by imagining themselves in the gospel story….Try this: Choose a passage from one of the gospels. Read it slowly. Daydream about it, imagining you’re there. Perhaps you’re a bystander watching Jesus, or the person talking to Jesus. Try playing various roles in the scene. Use your imagination to add details. Put yourself into the story via your five senses….By being there, you’re spending time with Jesus.”
Unsatisfactory devotional times are not uncommon. Probably everyone reading this could witness to the fact that they have experienced them. What concerns me about the author’s response to that is to find “practices” as a solution rather than discover why Scripture was stale to her. “I’ve read all this before. It seemed stale.”
If Scripture appears stale to us, the problem is not with the Scripture, or that we need a special way of reading it to make it more real or interesting. The problem lies hidden in our hearts. I’m afraid that much of our approach to God and His Word is rooted in unrecognized self-centeredness. We want to feel good. We want God to be there for us rather than seeking to know what His Word says and responding to Him in obedience. “These verses became a love letter from God to me, an invitation to deeper intimacy with him,” the author wrote. Why are the words “love letter” and “deeper intimacy” used? Yes, the Bible reveals God’s love to us, and we do have fellowship with him. But I am concerned about the sensual tone that is common in so much Christian music and writing, and is apparently the underlying motivation for much of our approach to God. Jesus is not a boyfriend, a stand-in spouse nor a pal. He is our loving Savior who demands much from us, and that should be the basis for our approach to Scripture and prayer.
There have been many times of anguish and desperation in my life when I have prayed short prayers repeatedly. “Help, Lord!” is a real, urgent prayer if what is behind it is ‘Thy kingdom come and Thy will be done’ in this situation. Jesus did not prohibit repetitious prayers. He prohibited “vain repetition.” In other words, empty words. Prayer must have content behind it if it is to please God. Beautiful words mean nothing if they don’t come from a contrite, humble heart that seeks the glory of God. If I am praying only to relieve fear and tension, I am praying wrongly. Any prayer or prayer ‘practice’ with the goal of anything but the purpose and the glory of God—not my ease, not my fear, not my relief, not my intimacy with God—is praying wrongly, and I am not pleasing God. The ‘wrongly’ is not from the words chosen, it is from the motivation of the heart. The simplest, most uneducated, most un-theologically trained person can pray a prayer that pleases God. It’s the heart that matters. Jesus gave us the perfect example of prayer, and we would do well to do and pray as He commanded.
Which brings me to the last practice: “being there.” Meditating on the Word of God means hiding it in our hearts that we may not sin against God. It does not mean imagining that we’re on the scene with Jesus and playing the different character parts. We’re not instructed by Scripture to use our senses (sensuality again) to imagine nearness to Him, we’re instructed to allow the Holy Spirit to search our hearts to see if there be any wicked way in us that would keep us separated from Him. The character of God that is revealed throughout the Bible is worthy of our lifetime of study and meditation, and a looking forward to an eternity of knowing Him more, face to face. Seeking to know and obey Him requires no quiet imaginings; it requires diligence and dependence. Drawing near to Jesus is indeed rich fellowship because we know and have experienced His provision for us through the Cross. We are no longer under the wrath of God. Deeply knowing that is, should be anyway, enough to draw us to the Scriptures and to prayer with no problem at all.
January 27th, 2007 at 8:39 am
Amen, and amen.
January 27th, 2007 at 8:56 am
This is an excellent post, well-reasoned because it is Scripturally based. I’ve been really grieved lately at the unveiling, through those comments, of so much casualness toward a Holy Lord. May His name be exalted through your humble words. May each one of us be challenged to examine how we approach God Almighty.
January 27th, 2007 at 9:40 am
Rosemary:
My discouragement grew when a number of the comments on my post revealed, as Elle said, a casualness toward the majesty and holiness of the Lord and an utter lack of Biblical knowledge amoung women who boast of their Christianity on their own blogs.
The standard is no longer Scripture, but rather how we “feel” about a topic. Our experience trumps whatever Scripture might teach. One reader proclaimed that “Scripture alone has not the end word on prayer”.
No defense of the faith once delivered, no defense of God’s Word, no righteous anger over the error inspired by Satan to teach and lead the bond-servants astray.
And, then there’s you. Defending the faith, speaking the truth, standing against error, using the platform which the Lord has permitted you to have to speak the Truth.
Well done, Rosemary. Well done.
In Christ Alone,
Jules
January 27th, 2007 at 10:29 am
Thank you Rosemary for a well written word of discernment. Contemplative prayer is being taught to our children, youth and women thru magazines such as this one. Discipleship Journal is another to beware of. It is disheartening to see this teaching being pushed so much today. Pastors and teachers who I never thought would lean this direction are now promoting these teachings, i.e. “Be Still” DVD. It seems the emerging church and contemplative prayer go hand in hand. Women’s Retreats and Youth Retreats are teaching contemplative prayer. Some Christian Women’s sites have links to books and articles and as you said in your post about us having unsatisfactory devotional times - it is a heart issue. Everything about todays church is self-centered not cross-centered. Prayer labyrinths are another facet of ‘todays way to pray’. They have labyrinth kits for youth groups and prayer bead kits for children. Repeatitiveness is rampant. I did a Google search for labyrinths for PA and was shocked. 66 of them and growing … they are especially springing up at Bed and Breakfasts! Again, Thank You Rosemary for a bit of ‘heavenly salt!’ Blessings to you and yours!
January 27th, 2007 at 11:52 am
Here via Everyday Mommy. Beautiful, Scriptural, truthful post. Amen!
January 27th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
FYI,
Jules states:
“One reader proclaimed that “Scripture alone has not the end word on prayer”.
No defense of the faith once delivered, no defense of God’s Word, no righteous anger over the error inspired by Satan to teach and lead the bond-servants astray.”
Uh, yeah - that was ME!
Just wanted to mention, I most certainly used scripture throughout my response, but the link to my response was deleted. We differ in interpretation - but let us hold to Christ’s new commandment, “Love one another.”
~Kari
So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a
complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. ~Colossians 3:12-15
January 27th, 2007 at 11:45 pm
Contemplative prayer is simply meditating on the fullness, the bigness of God. I am not sure how meditating on God’s goodness, or meditating on a Bible passage (lectio divine) can in any way be “against” Scripture?
I really think that much of this stems from misunderstanding what contemplative prayer is about. Just as there may be some people who preach terrible sermons, that in no way makes “sermons” evil, right? It would be silly if somebody did a big series on the evils of sermons, all because of a few people who were kooky…
The same is true with contemplative prayer. At the core, all it is saying is that we shouldn’t just blab nonstop, but wait, to be still, to meditate on God, on His word, to allow Him a moment to whisper something to us if He should so desire, to slow down and to not be the one doing all the talking.
Contemplative Prayer, at it’s core, is simply praying contemplatively—-letting our minds rest in Him.
Lectio Divine, at it’s core, is simply reading a passage of Scripture, pausing to think about it in stillness, reading it again…pausing…reading it again, letting the words wash over us and enjoying the Yahweh we meet in the pages.
These things are 100% Scriptural. If someone is saying we shouldn’t let our minds slow down and meditate on God, or that we shouldn’t linger over His word because it’s dangerous…well, I’m not sure how they can back that up Scripturally when Scripture encourages us to do those very things! lol…
Like I said, I wonder how much of this bruhaha is simple misunderstanding, the product of being quick to speak and slow to listen…?
Warmly,
Molly
January 28th, 2007 at 11:43 am
Wanted to take a moment to stop in and correct my error! I received an e-mail explaining that the link to my e-mail was not deleted on purpose *by* Everyday Mommy, but that it was a glitch in the blog server.
So, while you are welcome to read the response, complete with scripture references at my blog, I just wanted to clarify that bit.
In Christ alone,
Kari
January 31st, 2007 at 10:15 am
Do we not see the wisdom of our Father in everything? What if we had “mountain top” experiences every time we had a devotional time with our Lord, wouldn’t they then become the mundane? And wouldn’t those times become stale? And why would we seek His face if it was always before us without any “diligence” on our part?
Our Father has perfectly given us a journey that glorifies Him and is set out for our growth in the knowledge of Him. Let us never forget that God is well pleased with faith and “blessed are those who have not seen yet believe”. So if sometimes it seems that the Bible is just words on a page and God’s presence isn’t as tangible as you desire, remember, press through because he is there and will reward our faithfulness in the wilderness.
Milk and honey awaits those who cross the Jordan and engage the enemy. How do I know? He has promised and He cannot lie. Praise His Matchless Name!!
January 31st, 2007 at 1:34 pm
Hi Rosemary,
I came here via Everyday Mommy. I must say that the overall tone of your post seems to be that we can only come before God as worms not worthy of His time or attention. I disagree (if that is indeed your feeling. I may be “misinterpreting” your post).
You say, “Any prayer or prayer ‘practice’ with the goal of anything but the purpose and the glory of God—not my ease, not my fear, not my relief, not my intimacy with God—is praying wrongly, and I am not pleasing God.”
Is this how you treat your child when he/she comes to you afraid or upset or just needs to cuddle? Of course not! To paraphrase the Lord, if we, being evil creatures know how to give good gifts to our children, then how much more will our Heavenly Father give us? As a child of God I know that I can come boldly before the throne of grace any time I need to. To say that we are not pleasing God when we come before Him in our need and “anguish” as you put it is wrong. How do you know if it’s pleasing to God or not? The only thing that pleases God is faith, not souls won, not prayer content, not worship, not adoration. Faith and faith alone. So if a person goes to God in faith, knowing that He will at least give peace if not an answer, how is that not pleasing to God? I would think it would please Him more for His children to turn to Him for their every need rather than TV, food, or worse.
Correct me sister if I am interpreting your post incorrectly. I am not above it, and please accept my humble apologies if I have misunderstood.
January 31st, 2007 at 2:44 pm
This is really good! Thanks so much for the Biblical encouragement!
Kim
January 31st, 2007 at 4:03 pm
First,thanks to everyone for coming to read this post, and for your comments. I’d like to respond a bit to clarify what I didn’t make clear.
I said,”If I am praying only to relieve fear and tension, I am praying wrongly. Any prayer or prayer ‘practice’ with the goal of anything but the purpose and glory of God–not my ease, not my fear, not my relief, not my intimacy with God–is praying wrongly, and I am not pleasing to God.”
Please note that I followed that statement with “The ‘wrongly’ is NOT FROM THE WORDS CHOSEN, it is from the MOTIVATION OF THE HEART.” (sorry for the caps; i’m not yelling). Absolutely, God welcomes our cries of anguish, our pleads for mercy and grace, and all of the outpourings of our heart. It’s that Father/Child relationship you spoke of, Shayne. The problem comes when I insist on my own way rather than having a submissive heart attitude to what God is doing in my life and in the lives of those I am praying for. My requests to God must be compliant to his will, not my own. If my will contradicts his, (and often it has, I’m sorry to say), I have to admit that and humbly, honestly as him to align my will to his. In all things.
We know that our prayers are pleasing to God when they fall in line with his Word. When they come from a contrite heart that echoes the words of Jesus when he said, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42).
I agree with you, Shayne, when you say it is pleasing to God when we go to him in faith, knowing that he will give us peace, even if he does not answer (and I assume you mean in the way we want).
Yes. If our child is not healed as we have asked, (I have experienced this to the farthest limits) he will give us peace that comes from the knowledge that he is sovereign and is accomplishing his will in all things. I have experienced that too.
The point I inadequately tried to make was that often our prayer and devotional times are more self-centered than we realize. We need to evaluate our approach to God by examining Scripture in its entirety and align our ways to what God desires. Frankly, we don’t deserve his grace and his attention, but he has made the way possible to him through Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross. When we come to him, accepting his gift of salvation, we also accept his sovereignty over our lives. We’re no longer our own, we’re joyfully, wholeheartedly his!
Reading and being obedient to his Word, and praying to him with thankfulness and asking that his kingdom come and his will be done in our lives, go hand-in-hand. I have found in my own life that an indicator that I am seeking my will above God’s is that when he doesn’t respond in the way I want, I get angry or depressed. Is that familiar to anybody?
Please understand that I absolutely do cry out to God with the desires of my heart. I have had times of anguish when I thought my heart might rip into shreds. I am not knocking that in any way. We are commanded to to that. But God is the potter; we are the clay. He does what is best.
January 31st, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Rosemary,
Thank you for your eloquent response. I wholeheartedly agree with you. I think we are saying the same thing in two different ways. This topic about the “right” way and “wrong” way to pray has just really got me thinking and wondering. I just have been through so much (as have you I’m sure) and fought so hard for my liberty in Christ, and well, let’s just say that legalism and I are old friends.
It’s just that, Christ broke so many “rules” (not the Law you understand) that sometimes I wonder if we are being like the Pharisees and Sadducees when we start throwing around terms like “blasphemy” and “heretic.” Names which our beloved Saviour was called. All because He didn’t look like, talk like, or act like what anyone expected. You see where I’m coming from?
Please respond…I’d love to hear what you have to say if you have time. Thank you again for your response.