Prayer of the Forsaken

The Concept

To be honest, I didn't want to do this one. To take this on feels a bit like shooting myself in the foot. I mercifully do not feel "forsaken." But, I am going through this book based on a certain pattern, and rather than skip a chapter, I hope to find value in understanding this prayer before it needs to be prayed.

The Prayer of the Forsaken is praying through a time in your life when you feel the absence of God's presence. It is a lament; it is an expression of longing and of shaking one's fists; it is a posture of refusing to let go and persisting to live up to what you have already attained (Phil 3:16). Foster says, it is doing what we know to do. We pray, we listen, we worship, we carry out the duty of the present moment. What we learned to do in the light of God's love, we also do in the dark of God's absence.

David prayed many times, "How long, O Lord, will you be hidden?" For reasons we may never understand, there will be times in our lives where God seems removed. We may find we have structured our faith on vain securities - on warm fuzzy worship services, on awe-inspiring Bible readings, on human fellowship, or even on Holy Spirit goosebumps - rather than on God alone. There are times when he chooses not to perform at our beck and call. When we recognize God's absence, we strip down our dependence on results and crave the source: God himself. We find out true desire is not to master God, but be mastered by him.

Foster says that moments like this are "a definite experience of prayer, to be expected, even embraced." Personally, I believe God is ever present, that he will draw near to those who draw near to him, that those who seek him will find him, that he will answer those who call upon him. But many Christian fathers and mothers have described this Dark Night of the Soul, so I must believe our human awareness can become clouded to the presence of God. We can perceive a separation and be devastated by it. But I also must believe it is God's desire that we come out on the other side, more dependent on and more aware of his steadfast, unfailing love.

The Experience

I was able to come to terms with this type of prayer when I was shown that every moment of our human existence is in some way removed from the full presence of God. We are in a constant pursuit of a face-to-face relationship while separated by a glass darkly (1 Cor 13:12). This is our forsaken reality. How it would bless the Lord to know we crave more of him all the time, and not just when we are feeling abandoned!

I read Psalm 13 as part of this study and hope to remember it when I need it. It is short and perfect for a time of feeling separate from God. David's heart is in sorrow, his thoughts in turmoil, as he suffers separation from God. But ultimately, he sings praises, for he remembers "the Lord has been good to me." In Psalm 42:6, he says similarly: "My soul is downcast within me, therefore I will remember my God." Our memory is our gift. In times of dejection, we must learn to trust in what we have known of God's unchanging character.

For now, we know in part, but this is reason enough to hope and rejoice. 1 Peter 1:8: "Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy."

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.