Pray As You Go

Spirituality Column #138
June 30, 2009
Current in Carmel (IN) newspaper
Current in Westfield (IN) newspaper

Pray As You Go
By Bob Walters

God is constant, unchanging and eternal, while our mortal lives often change by the minute.

Prayer puts us in touch with God’s world, a peaceful and safe place. Yet we pray in response to the joy and pain, the hope and horror, the love and despair, the blessing and need, the goodness and sin, of daily human life.

We pray as we go, constantly striving for a Godly prayer connection that lifts us out of confusing human dualities and into the clearheaded, divine sphere of faith, hope and love.

It’s that wonderful place where we can “Be still, and know that [God is] God.” (Psalm 46:10)

The most beautiful and effective of prayers, to me, focus on God’s goodness, Christ’s sacrifice, and the Holy Spirit’s indwelling of our hearts.

Traditional, denominational books of Common Prayer are filled with these eloquent offerings. For example, here is the opening “Collect” (prayer) from the Episcopal Church’s Order of Holy Communion, circa 1952:

“Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid; Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.”

Wow. I think God deserves our best, most eloquent and sincere effort when we pray. Many of us are not especially eloquent – not like these liturgical prayers developed over centuries – but I do believe God always honors a heavenly-directed, focused, sincere prayer.

Satan, I’m pretty sure, prefers that we pray about ourselves.

The liturgical churches – Roman Catholic, Orthodox, mainline Protestant – become nervous when prayer and/or worship go off script. Conversely, the more freeform, Bible-based and widely varying Baptist, Wesleyan, Nazarene, Brethren, independent Christian churches, etc., are often suspicious of prayers written down before they are actually prayed … scripture, of course, excepted.

I see both sides. I grew up in the liturgical Episcopal Church, did not go to church for nearly three decades, then came to Christ, was baptized and joined a non-liturgical Bible-based Christian church.

Prayer at first was difficult. I knew the Lord’s Prayer, didn’t know scripture, and couldn’t imagine an uncharted personal prayer path. But we pray as we go, using old prayers or new praises, but always with the Holy Spirit’s help directed toward God in Jesus’ name.

Can’t miss.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) notes for the Fourth of July that the word “liberty” isn’t in the Bible, and the word “freedom” isn’t in the Declaration of Independence.