The Lord's Prayer

So I was all excited to get started reading all the books I bought about prayer. I had a lot of enthusiasm and energy for the project. And then the holidays happened. Not in a bad way like the holidays sucked all my energy out of the marrow of my bones but in a really good way. We had an incredibly restful, peaceful, downright lazy Christmas break full of magic for the boys and joy for us parents as we watched Christmas through their eyes. And then a group of girls from my church and I decided to read the Bible in one year. This required setting up a blog for everyone to share what they were learning and also to keep track of the slackers. I did not want to be one of the slackers and so far have stayed on track with our reading plan. So let's just say I have gotten off track with my prayer study plans. And I was not really all the concerned about it. Apathy seemed to have set in a bit which I guess is usually what happens after the excitement of the preparation and planning fades. Could explain why I won't have to wait for a treadmill in a month or two at the gym but right now it is crazy there. And then I was doing last night's daily reading in Matthew 6.

"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
"This, then, is how you should pray:
'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.'
For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. Matthew 6:5-15

We went to a church in California that said the Lord's Prayer every Sunday and I found it very comforting. I like the prayer. It is clear, straight forward, to the point. "This, then, is how you should pray." I was also really struck by the teaching before the Lord's Prayer. Go into a room alone. Do not keep on babbling. The problem is I am a woman and not just any woman who has lots of words to use but a babbling woman. But when I think about my babbling moments in life, it is usually because I am trying to prove my point or am feeling unheard or disconnected in the conversation. I don't have to babble to God, repeating my words to convince him to do what I want or to care about my ideas. First, I don't want to convince God to do what I want because let's be honest. His plan is far better than mine. Second, He does care! I don't have to go on and on trying to make him listen to me because He is listening. He knows my heart, my mind, my soul. I can tell him once and have confidence that He has really heard me. Doesn't me I won't go to Him again and again with my cares and concerns because I need Him. But I can relax in knowing that He did hear me the first time.

So while I might lose enthusiasm for my projects. God heard my heart, my request for Him to teach me to pray and He did not let me go. He pulled me back in!

From the Mouths of Babes

So I am spending all this time to try to figure out how to pray. Overwhelmed by my total lack of confidence in an area of my faith that I am called to be doing without ceasing. And yet, at Christmas especially, maybe we should be following the lead of the young. This was what my Middle Man prayed today at Christmas dinner -

"Dear God, Thank you for your wonderful gift. Thank you for sending your son. Amen"

Amen!

Lord, Teach Me to Pray

On Tuesdays, for one hour, all three of my boys are in school at the same time. This is because Little One has started a speech class once a week for one hour. He had been going for an hour and half which was heavenly but he graduated from that class rather quickly and is now in the one hour speech articulation class. I was a little bummed that he was progressing so quickly because I was really enjoying a whole hour and a half. But at this point in my life as a Mommy, I will gladly take one hour, once a week. Especially since that one hour is at 8:30 in the morning and a town away so there really is not much I can do but hang out at Starbucks, drink my mocha while it is hot, and start reading through all the new books I have.

So this week I was sitting at my table all ready to go with four books in front of me having to choose where to begin. How does one choose what book to read first? I always feel like I am being asked to choose which child is my favorite. Though if I am totally honest, I do have a favorite child, but it is not always the same child. Good thing I have three kids because at any given moment any one or two might be pushing my last buttons but there is always one that makes me smile on that day and reminds me how lucky I am to have each and every one of them. So you can see I have a deep need to improve on my prayer life.

I decided to start with a book by Andrew Murray written over a hundred years ago. It was recommended by a friend and as a former history teacher I figured when in doubt go with a classic. So glad I did because the first chapter of "With Christ in the School of Prayer: Unlock the Power of Prayer" is called Lord, Teach Us to Pray. In it he writes this prayer,

Lord Jesus! I ask Thee this day to enroll my name among those who confess that they know not how to pray as they ought, and specially ask Thee for a course of teaching in prayer. Lord! teach me to tarry with Thee in the school, and give Thee time to train me. May a deep sense of my ignorance, of the wonderful privilege and power of prayer, of the need of the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of prayer, lead me to cast away my thoughts of what I think I know, and make me kneel before Thee in true teachableness and poverty of spirit.

I love that prayer. And while the words may be different, with a lot less Thees, my heart cries out in the same way. Turns out I was going at this study of prayer the wrong way, seeking book recommendations and talking to friends, before I ever went to Jesus the perfect teacher of prayer. Because no matter what books I read, who I talk with or what I find in the Bible, without Jesus and the Holy Spirit, I will never understand prayer. I will never be able to really experience prayer as God wants for me.

So Lord, please teach me to pray! Let me be a humble student, open to wherever your training will take me, eager to learn from you, open to your Spirit, with a deep understanding that the power of prayer comes not from me, but from you. Let my prayers start and stop with You.

Seeking Book Recommendations on Prayer

I ran into my pastor at Starbucks today. He was reading a book on the Holy Spirit which made me realize I had not asked him for any recommendations for books on prayer. So in between getting Little One a tall water, no ice (very specific like his mommy) and helping him get his scone out of the bag, I asked my pastor if he had any books to recommend for my study of prayer. I felt a little better when he did not have a laundry list of the best books on prayer ever written all ready to go. Turns out that prayer is a challenge for a lot of strong, mature Christians. He thought of a few and is going to get back to me with some suggestions. We did have an interesting start of a discussion about the purpose of prayer and thinking through what it means to pray without ceasing. Were we in that moment praying at all times? Is prayer us talking? It seems to me that prayer would have to be conversational which would require that I stop talking sometimes to let the other person, God, get a word. I have found with both my husband and kids that we can be together, communicating with one another without ever saying a word or even be thinking a specific thought but just being together. I would think the same would be true with God. Is to pray without ceasing mean being in communion with God at all times? Not necessarily talking or even listening but just being in His presence. Little one was not really enjoying our theological discussion and decided to spin around, fall down and cry loudly. So I had to leave quickly because there is no crying in Starbucks. But not before I found out I really need to get a systematic theology book. Guess I will add that to my Amazon list.

Here is one great thing my pastor has taught me about prayer though. A month or so ago he was teaching on suffering. Really good, challenging stuff that took the spot light off our conditions and put it on God's sovereignty. One thing the pastor said was that the Bible says to cast our cares upon the Lord (I Peter 5:7). He said that when we take our anxieties to the Lord, He will trade our cares for His peace. We pray and give our worries and concerns to God, not asking for solutions or answers but placing them on His alter.