Those who do not know God are those who refuse to turn to Him. (Bernard of Clairvaux)
In my last entry, I recommended, before anything else, addressing the God to whom we are praying: O Wisdom! O Truth! O Holiness and Goodness! Mercy and Kindness! Justice! The One Who sees me! The One Who hears me! If we do not yet know God the Father, we can address our prayer to Jesus Christ, Who comes to reveal to us Who God Is. Our destiny is to know intimately the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ -- the One of Whom He spoke when He said, "The Father and I are One." Once we begin to address Jesus -- and we have the words of Scripture to help us in our weakness -- we enter into the Presence of God: You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life! You are the Good Shepherd! You are the Son of the Living God! You are the Word of God made flesh! You will never reject those who come to You!
Entering into the Presence of God, we stand silent. Ultimately, the only thing we can say is "Thank You," and it is not enough. When we finally see Who God Is, Who He has been to us all the days of our lives, our gratitude cannot be expressed. We are mute before Him. And that is really the best prayer of all. When we try to say what is on our hearts, words fail us. But how necessary it is for us to remember all that God has done for us! Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my savior! ....for He has done great things for me!"
The Psalms both teach us to recall the great things God has done for us, and at the same time remind us of the dangers of forgetting His deeds toward us. Psalm 106 is worth studying for its progression or slide into idolatry -- just by failing to remember what God has done. In the margin of my Bible, I once made a list of the results of forgetting what God has done: They forgot what God had done; they gave in to craving and grew envious; they worshipped idols, and despised His inheritance. They did not believe His promise, and grumbled in their tents. They did not obey the Lord, and yoked themselves to Baal, sacrificing to lifeless gods. (There is a parallel list in Romans, chapter 1, for those who are interested.)
The next "great step" in prayer is to recall all that God has done for us. And here we have Psalm 103 to guide our thinking and our prayer. The Psalmist is addressing his own soul in this Psalm -- that is, he is speaking to his mind and his emotions: Praise the Lord, O my soul; and all my inmost being, praise His holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.
Reading this psalm in two translations should take us directly into profound prayer, especially if we can remain in David's mindset of speaking to our own mind and heart: He forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases; He redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion. He satisfies your desires with good thing, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. If these words do not lead us into praise, thanksgiving, and worship, we are hard indeed!
And that brings me into another great help to prayer: the words of Scripture. They are there for us; we fail to use them daily. Once we have created a 'sacred space,' a place to pray, once we have entered into the Presence of God by acknowledging Who He Is, the Scriptures will lead us deeper into prayer. The Holy Spirit hovers over all our reading and study, to bring the words to life for us. The Word of God is our great Teacher and Mentor in prayer. It gives us words beyond our own; it teaches us the ways of God; it ministers life to our dead souls. Every prayer space needs a bible close at hand -- even if the one praying does not yet read the bible.
St. Augustine was wrestling in spirit and in truth with the great truths of Scripture as taught to him by Ambrose. But he could not bring himself to submit his life and his treasures to what he knew to be true. And he heard a child singing, "Take and read; take and read." Fortunately, he had the Scriptures close at hand. Picking up the scroll, he read the words which changed his life: "Put on Christ Jesus, and make no provision for the lusts of the flesh." Now the word of God does not only "say" truth, but it carries within itself the power to do truth. In that moment, Augustine received the grace to finally do what the Word said. And the same is true of us. If the Scripture is near at hand during our time of prayer, the Holy Spirit will direct not only our reading, but our response to the sacred words -- and we will finally bow our heads, our hearts, our minds, and our wills to the Word.
Entering into the Presence of God, we stand silent. Ultimately, the only thing we can say is "Thank You," and it is not enough. When we finally see Who God Is, Who He has been to us all the days of our lives, our gratitude cannot be expressed. We are mute before Him. And that is really the best prayer of all. When we try to say what is on our hearts, words fail us. But how necessary it is for us to remember all that God has done for us! Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my savior! ....for He has done great things for me!"
The Psalms both teach us to recall the great things God has done for us, and at the same time remind us of the dangers of forgetting His deeds toward us. Psalm 106 is worth studying for its progression or slide into idolatry -- just by failing to remember what God has done. In the margin of my Bible, I once made a list of the results of forgetting what God has done: They forgot what God had done; they gave in to craving and grew envious; they worshipped idols, and despised His inheritance. They did not believe His promise, and grumbled in their tents. They did not obey the Lord, and yoked themselves to Baal, sacrificing to lifeless gods. (There is a parallel list in Romans, chapter 1, for those who are interested.)
The next "great step" in prayer is to recall all that God has done for us. And here we have Psalm 103 to guide our thinking and our prayer. The Psalmist is addressing his own soul in this Psalm -- that is, he is speaking to his mind and his emotions: Praise the Lord, O my soul; and all my inmost being, praise His holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.
Reading this psalm in two translations should take us directly into profound prayer, especially if we can remain in David's mindset of speaking to our own mind and heart: He forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases; He redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion. He satisfies your desires with good thing, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. If these words do not lead us into praise, thanksgiving, and worship, we are hard indeed!
And that brings me into another great help to prayer: the words of Scripture. They are there for us; we fail to use them daily. Once we have created a 'sacred space,' a place to pray, once we have entered into the Presence of God by acknowledging Who He Is, the Scriptures will lead us deeper into prayer. The Holy Spirit hovers over all our reading and study, to bring the words to life for us. The Word of God is our great Teacher and Mentor in prayer. It gives us words beyond our own; it teaches us the ways of God; it ministers life to our dead souls. Every prayer space needs a bible close at hand -- even if the one praying does not yet read the bible.
St. Augustine was wrestling in spirit and in truth with the great truths of Scripture as taught to him by Ambrose. But he could not bring himself to submit his life and his treasures to what he knew to be true. And he heard a child singing, "Take and read; take and read." Fortunately, he had the Scriptures close at hand. Picking up the scroll, he read the words which changed his life: "Put on Christ Jesus, and make no provision for the lusts of the flesh." Now the word of God does not only "say" truth, but it carries within itself the power to do truth. In that moment, Augustine received the grace to finally do what the Word said. And the same is true of us. If the Scripture is near at hand during our time of prayer, the Holy Spirit will direct not only our reading, but our response to the sacred words -- and we will finally bow our heads, our hearts, our minds, and our wills to the Word.
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