Praying the Ordinary

The Concept

A large part of my understanding of Praying the Ordinary has come from my weekly reading of The Practice of the Presence of God. Though I take from Foster an explanation of the concepts, Brother Lawrence's vision of "flipping an omelet for God" has stuck with me this whole week. I am beholden to him for the idea that we are unable to sin as long as we are in the presence of God, and I long for that to be my natural state.

Praying the Ordinary has multiple applications. It is turning ordinary activities into prayer, i.e. doing all things as unto the Lord (1 Cor 10:31, Col 3:23). It is the awareness of God in ordinary experiences (Rom 11:36, Eph 4:6). It is praying ceaselessly throughout your ordinary day and in ordinary moments because you know he is your constant companion (1 Thess 5:17, Matt 28:20).

In structuring your life around this concept, you will value small things and not only seek out the conspicuous. You will recognize the sacredness of creation. You will see that the material and spiritual realms are intertwined, not "apartheid," and in so doing, you will see that life and prayer are also intertwined and that there is no compartment in your life that God does not want to touch.

Foster says a "prayer of action" or acting within God's will, can be more effective than a prayer of words. He quotes Anthony Bloom, "A prayer makes sense only if it is lived. Unless they are lived, unless life and prayer become completely interwoven, prayers become a sort of polite madrigal which you offer to God at moments when you are giving time to him." Praying the Ordinary is an intentional discipline in realizing that all our time belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Experience

I don't know if it is because life is funny or because this exercise awakened me to the many extraordinary everyday experiences in my life, but this week was full of conspicuous occasions to pray. And I found that praying through them made them more interesting and better experienced. I believe Praying the Ordinary as a way of life will lead one to a better lived, truly abundant life.

This week, I prayed through PMS, through the Buddhist funeral of an amazing woman, through my car not starting, through unwelcome feelings of resentment, through playing with my new puppy, through a wait at a doctor's office, through reading books, reading the news, receiving a 2-hour massage, going to sleep and waking up. I never needed an excuse to pray - it was natural; and I am certain there is never an excuse not to pray! Even distractions become occasions to pray.

I find the only thing working against this type of prayer, this type of life, is forgetfulness. I confess I went a full-day this week without remembering this exercise. It may help to assign things as mnemonic devices: resolve when you see a flower to remember its creator, resolve when you open the refrigerator door to remember your provider, etc, moving towards all things having this effect. I wrote in my prayer journal: "I believe that You abide in me, and that I do abide in you. I confess that in less than 24 hours,I forgot my resolve to be aware of your constant presence. Holy Spirit, nudge me through the day, so I am reminded of our Love Affair. May everything I see or do bring you to mind." ...I should pray that more often!

I think continuing these first 3 concepts - Simple Prayer, the Prayer of Adoration, and Praying the Ordinary - are worthwhile foundation blocks for all the more specific types of prayer moving forward in this journey. I am grateful that God has led me to put them in practice, as I feel closer to him now than I have been before.

The Prayer of Adoration

The Concept

Adoration is not a separate kind of prayer, "it is the air in which prayer breathes, the sea in which prayer swims." But in the context of this exercise, it is a more intentional expression, a releasing of the natural response of our heart when it glimpses the heart of the Father.

The Prayer of Adoration is selfless, it doesn't ask after anything, but rather seeks only to exalt the Lord. In this posture of worshiping in spirit and in truth, as we yearn to bless God, he mercifully sees fit to heal our own sorrows and weaknesses.

We have scriptural assurance that our thankfulness reaches his heart. Jesus was moved by the one healed leper who returned to thank him, while the other 9 walked away (Luke 17:11-19). David's psalms declare over and over how praise will be on his lips all of his days.

Foster mentions 4 obstacles to adoration: 1) inattentiveness, moving through life oblivious to the beauty of creation and God's works, 2) over-analysis, evaluating the gifts of God instead of truly experiencing them, 3) greed, answering God's goodness by asking for more, and 4) conceit, being pleased with ourselves for bringing praise.

Adoration should move beyond a selfless posture to the active state of losing oneself, being overwhelmed with the outpouring of love and awe on the object of your affection. As Friend Owl tells Bambi: "You begin to get weak in the knees. Your head's in a whirl. And then you feel light as a feather, and before you know it, you're walking on air. And then you know what? You're knocked for a loop, and you completely lose your head!"

The Experience

This week, I tried to train myself to be more aware of my daily gifts, to say "thank you, Lord" often, with the aim of becoming lost in a spirit of worship. Unfortunately, I never truly experienced this rhapsody, despite all my efforts to "turn it on." Even my time in communal worship on Sunday seemed less stirring than usual. It seems my analytical intellect constantly stood in the way. Even using psalms as a stepping stone, I found myself looking up Hebrew words and chain references rather than becoming caught up in praise.

It was frustrating. I prayed that I would be surprised by my capacity to worship; I know it is the reason I was created. I prayed the "I" out of my head in order to increase the "Thou" (I love me some Buber). I prayed for a revelation of what is holding me back; I can't detect any resentment or bitterness or anger or any reason to protect myself in this way of withholding intimacy. I did not receive immediate answers, but I have faith that God is doing his work, and one day, I will be free in expressing my love.

Pastor C. had some great insight that led to positive changes towards the end of this week. Rather than praying, "Thank you, Lord, for x" I have changed my vocabulary to "I love you, Lord, because x." Words are so important and can change hearts. He also gave me the image of a child hugging a parent, and how much it means to have that last tight squeeze before letting go ... not rushing off to other activities but really desiring to linger and cling even tighter.

I want to achieve a continual life of praise, my life as a lovesong, as is expressed in Ps 34:1, Ps 145, Heb 13:15, etc. So though I will not spend another week on this topic in order to better perfect it - for I think this is impossible - I will carry it with me as I learn to practice the other prayer forms in Foster's book.

I want to be constantly aware of adoration, so it truly is the air my heart breathes and the sea my heart swims in. I want to move beyond lip-service, beyond "prayer exercises." I want my heart to break in abject worship. My Lord is more than worthy of such praise.

Simple Prayer

The Concept

Simple Prayer is not pre-sorted or rehearsed; it is not concerned about its motive or its delivery. It can be silly; it can be angry. Simple prayer reveals the contents of our heart: the good, the bad, the ugly. It is prayer from where we are in the moment. Simple prayer is prayer for the sake of prayer.

We often let excuses keep us from prayer: busy-ness, distractedness, stubbornness, independence, self-centeredness, self-consciousness, etc. Foster writes: "We yearn for prayer and hide from prayer. We are attracted to it and repelled by it. We believe prayer is something we should do, even something we want to do, but it seems like a chasm stands between us and actually praying. We experience the agony of prayerlessness."

But when we step back from our own expectations of prayer, when we remove our own limitations and standards, we begin to open the floodgates of prayerfulness. By praying, we learn to pray.

Simple prayer is a child's prayer, and we will never outgrow it, because the Spirit of Christ within our hearts cries "Abba, Father." (Gal. 4:6).


The Experience

So I spent a week conscientiously bringing every little (and big) experience and thought to my Lord. My desire is to make prayer as natural to me as breathing. I would rather turn to God first, even before turning inward and assessing my own thoughts (which are unreliable and often require correction anyways)!

I've always had this silly little notion that I should not be wasting God's time with pointless, rambling prayers. I know the insanity of it, of thinking God's time is limited, but still I fret over annoying him. This week gave me some healing in this area. Yes, God is worthy of fear and reverence, of Isaiah's "dread of the Lord and the splendor of his majesty," but I find the courage to stand in his presence through my trust in his nature, through my inescapable dependence on him, and through the worthiness of Christ I share. God is pleased to share every part of my life: my actions, my heart, my thoughts. Resistance is futile (and foolish).

As I practiced Simple Prayer this week, I was shocked to find I had lots more to say to him then I would have thought! My usual short prayer time became longer as I didn't filter anything back - I hadn't even been aware I was doing that - but just poured everything out before him. I found my tone becoming informal and conversational - more so than I have allowed myself before. Because it is impossible to lie in prayer, truth was revealed in these conversations, and I received answers to questions ... and a changed heart.

Intro

I am a blog junkie. Not that I read many daily. Not that I keep up with mine. But that I have started several, always with some specific theme, and let them wander off into forgotten cyberspace. So I guess I am actually a blog killer. This isn't really a confession; it's just the truth.

In this blog, I am taking on Richard Foster's book Prayer. I was given it by Pastor J. and read it through cover-to-cover. The book sparked a passion in me to improve my prayer life. I believe it's not enough to simply read it, but it requires student participation.

Each chapter of the book is dedicated to a different "type" of prayer. I plan to take on a new one each week, not sticking to the order of the book, and blog through the experience. My goal is not to study prayer and gain knowledge or even eloquence, but for me to gain richer conversations with my God through and towards a renovated heart. Foster quotes Samuel Coleridge: "He prayeth well, who loveth well." Always, that my love grow deeper!

Disclaimer: It's good for me to write, so this blog exists. It is not of concern to me if it is any good to read; so this blog will probably one day be killed.