Freestyle or Repetition?
A few weeks ago I attended a Sunday service at our old church in Fairfax, Virginia. It was great to be back. It was great to know people and to be known. It was great to sit in the same row with my dear friends the Super-Swany and Matti and it was really a special treat to gather in the coffee shop after church and enjoy coffee and bagels with friends while the kids ran around wildly. The senior pastor, Rod, shared a message that really spoke to my heart and one aspect of his message got me thinking about something else entirely, prayer. Rod shared that a friend of his has prayed John Wesley's Covenant Prayer every day for the past 30 years. It is a great prayer:
"I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee,
exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
thou art mine, and I am thine.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen."
I come from a line of freestyle prayers. Aside from occasional recitation of the Lord's Prayer or the 23rd Psalm, each prayer of mine is an original. However, after 34 years of just praying what my soul was feeling, I found myself very interested in memorizing this prayer, teaching it to the boys, and making it a part of our day.
I did some reading on how to pray and there are a lot of opinions out there. According to the Bible, Matthew 5-13 Jesus says this:
“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 others. Truly I tell you, 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. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation,but deliver us from the evil one"
Some people say Jesus gave the disciples a guide for prayer when he offered The Lord's Prayer, others say he really wanted them to say those exact words. The Bible says not to pray with vain repetition, meaning that longer prayers that are not heartfelt don't really do you any good. The Bible also says pray continually - that means all the time and about everything.
Lord's Prayer? Freestyle? Not too much? Continuously?...ahhh! What do you want from me?
I think the answer is found in the genuine, compassionate, character of Christ. There were times in Christ's ministry that he went freestyle. He was walking along a path and someone caught his attention and he just went with it, style of prayer, conversations or who he ate dinner with seemed to be really off the cuff. Other times he held to the rituals of Jewish society and participated in religious customs including going to the Synagogue on Sabbath and reading from the pre-selected scrolls.
I think God just wants us to pray, heartfelt prayers to Him. Maybe sometimes that means reciting something that you truly desire in your heart, maybe it means just opening up the floodgates and letting your thoughts go.
As God is our Heavenly Father, I try to relate my parental experiences with my boys to God's relationship with us. I expect the boys to respond to me with the memorized, practiced, and enforced "yes mom" when I ask them to do something, but when I ask them how their day was or how they feel about something I want to hear their heart. I want them to accept without question what I tell them to do, but I also want to hear their honest opinion on the matter. The respectful obedience of "yes mom" AND the freestyle expressions of love, concern or mindless chatter are ALL music to my ears. I think God appreciates both as well.
Psalm 141 says "may my prayers be set forth to you like incense". Maybe the incense is a time tested recipe or maybe it is a bunch of scents thrown together and set over the fire. Either way I think God enjoys the sweet scent of those who desire to know and honor him. I'm thinking that before my feet hit the floor in the morning I will jump start my day with John Wesley's prayer - reminding myself and recommitting to God that my life is in His hands.
"I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee,
exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
thou art mine, and I am thine.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen."
I come from a line of freestyle prayers. Aside from occasional recitation of the Lord's Prayer or the 23rd Psalm, each prayer of mine is an original. However, after 34 years of just praying what my soul was feeling, I found myself very interested in memorizing this prayer, teaching it to the boys, and making it a part of our day.
I did some reading on how to pray and there are a lot of opinions out there. According to the Bible, Matthew 5-13 Jesus says this:
“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 others. Truly I tell you, 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. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation,but deliver us from the evil one"
Some people say Jesus gave the disciples a guide for prayer when he offered The Lord's Prayer, others say he really wanted them to say those exact words. The Bible says not to pray with vain repetition, meaning that longer prayers that are not heartfelt don't really do you any good. The Bible also says pray continually - that means all the time and about everything.
Lord's Prayer? Freestyle? Not too much? Continuously?...ahhh! What do you want from me?
I think the answer is found in the genuine, compassionate, character of Christ. There were times in Christ's ministry that he went freestyle. He was walking along a path and someone caught his attention and he just went with it, style of prayer, conversations or who he ate dinner with seemed to be really off the cuff. Other times he held to the rituals of Jewish society and participated in religious customs including going to the Synagogue on Sabbath and reading from the pre-selected scrolls.
I think God just wants us to pray, heartfelt prayers to Him. Maybe sometimes that means reciting something that you truly desire in your heart, maybe it means just opening up the floodgates and letting your thoughts go.
As God is our Heavenly Father, I try to relate my parental experiences with my boys to God's relationship with us. I expect the boys to respond to me with the memorized, practiced, and enforced "yes mom" when I ask them to do something, but when I ask them how their day was or how they feel about something I want to hear their heart. I want them to accept without question what I tell them to do, but I also want to hear their honest opinion on the matter. The respectful obedience of "yes mom" AND the freestyle expressions of love, concern or mindless chatter are ALL music to my ears. I think God appreciates both as well.
Psalm 141 says "may my prayers be set forth to you like incense". Maybe the incense is a time tested recipe or maybe it is a bunch of scents thrown together and set over the fire. Either way I think God enjoys the sweet scent of those who desire to know and honor him. I'm thinking that before my feet hit the floor in the morning I will jump start my day with John Wesley's prayer - reminding myself and recommitting to God that my life is in His hands.
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