Thankfulness - Prayer

Link: Core Values
Focus: Thankfulness (Prayer)
Day: 16/95
Pathway summary: Study of the Word of God with expectation of Holy Spirit inspired revelation.
Justification: (Deuteronomy 6:6-9; Psalm 119; John 16:7-15; 2 Timothy 3:16-17)
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Image:

Still not decided on the image - temporarily scrapping it because I am so far behind.  Will have to address this.

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Setup:

Summarizing how thankfulness can be applied to the Prayer

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Prep:

Answering the question: how does thankfulness look with respect to the path of the Prayer

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Execution:

I began with prayer - and mostly want identify aspects to Prayer for which we should be thankful and because of which we can draw closer to Christ.

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Day 16 - Observations on Week 2 (Prayer)

My first day-of-thankfulness was supposed to speak to the nature of being thankful with respect to the Holy Scriptures - and it became, instead, an observation of the need for thanks and how it relates to Prayer.  So, I will follow my own lead and explain the transition from Prayer to Worship.

If prayer is the petition, worship is the container.  We are not called to worship without respite - and I believe this is because, if our hearts are aligned to the correct vectors and our attitude is properly oriented, what we get is right prayer - which can inform our worship.  However, we pray about what we think about - and we think about what we worship. This is the bridge.

We humans are built to worship; as I mentioned previously, I believe we ache for intimacy. It is technically an ache for intimacy with God - but we humans are marvelous at filling it with not only anyTHING but anything. We can fill it with drugs, alcohol, soda, sleep, music, or a multitude of other things. We can fill it with family, friends, duty, work, and an even more grand verisimilitude of abstractions. In some ways it fits these betters - because, in spite of how REAL God is, much of the ways in which we directly relate to him have characteristics which map to these abstractions.

To conclude, my observations about prayer is that, between the Holy Spirit and Prayer, I am remarkably better at reading - hence far better at reading the Bible. It is hard to regularly put down the abstractions of intellectual effort and pick up the banner of simple prayer.  So, at this time, between the two, my simple observation is simply - I desperately need to more diligently pray, and pray with reverence, and let it inform my decisions.  Which leads nicely into worship - because if prayer is what you in response to what you worship, then prayer can be a powerful feedback loop to let you know what you actually worship.

Freedom

Link: Core Values
Focus: Prayer (7/7)
Day: 15/95
Pathway summary: Being faith-filled, fervent, continual, and heartfelt in my expressions, petitions, and supplications to God.
Justification: (2 Timothy 1:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; Matthew 6:5-13; Mark 9:23)
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Setup:

What is "just enough" prayer? What is the impact of praying as frequently as is feasible?

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Prep:

I recognized, of the studies in this journey so far, that compared to studying the bible, prayer (for me) is a much more difficult to thing to do regularly. Every post for this focus section has been late - so definitely something to work on.

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Execution:

I started with prayer and asked for guidance - recognizing I need Him to pray properly ... and also to complete this arc addressing the same.
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Day 15 Conclusions / Thoughts

The whole "just enough" is always a trap - much like any earnest relationship anyone is ever in, choosing to be guided by a "tit-for-tat" (or zero-sum) perspective will always falter in the end - this is because life is messy and we're talking about relationships between real people.

In other words, if you DO have a zero-sum perspective in a non-business relationship that is based on presumption of intimacy, you're probably not trying hard enough.

Flipping it, however, bears massive amounts of fruit. If you, instead, function from the perspective that you haven't prayed enough (and choose/fight to not be motivated by fear of this fact), you will err nicely on the side of sufficiency - which is to say, actually live out the "pray without ceasing."

And that's my take-away for prayer.  It is a perpetual font of opportunity to connect with God, it provides a tool to work through literally any dilemma, a means of productively investing in those people and enterprises you care about, and provides an earnest way to connect with the body of Christ in a discrete and intimate way.

My caution to you is to not take it for granted.

And prayer is so very, very easy to take for granted.  In fact, of the twelve core foci of the core values, it is the most easy to take for granted - because it requires no travel, no material commitment, and no tools. It believe it was designed with the intent that ANYONE can talk to God.

And God, so accessible and loving, is, as a result, easy to take for granted.

But not YOU. You are reading these words. You see the value of intimacy. And YOU realize that prayer should NEVER be taken for granted - especially because God has designed it to be accessed and used with a terribly low bar.

Maybe put God into perspective. Isaiah speaks about visiting God and having unclean lips (which are then quickly cleaned by an angel). The unview-able, unknowable, unthinkable creator of the universe is so worthy of our praise, our worship, our respect - and this is the same fellow who is offering us the opportunity to pray.

So ...

Pray in earnest - share on what you think and share your fears.

Pray in truth - do your best not to like about causes but speak from need and love

Pray in intimacy - do not hold things back from Him

But

Pray with reverence - He literally made you. He is worthy of worship

Pray with faith - He laid the groundwork for faith with his life.  Do not deny it.


Pray, in all things, about all events, for all people, giving everything to Him.

Perhaps on your knees.

But pray.

P.S. This post is entitled Freedom because there is freedom in praying without ceasing - you can trust God is actively involved in your life. You don't have to worry about praying for this but not that - and you can earnestly sink-your-teeth into the presumption that He is in control.

Facilitation

Link: Core Values
Focus: Prayer (6/7)
Day: 14/95
Pathway summary: Being faith-filled, fervent, continual, and heartfelt in my expressions, petitions, and supplications to God.
Justification: (2 Timothy 1:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; Matthew 6:5-13; Mark 9:23)
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Setup:

What would a life filled with an abundance of prayer look like? Is it possible to have an excess of conversation with God? 

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Prep:

Earlier I considered the aggregate impact of not praying and made the claim that most of the problems we have as individuals (or otherwise) stem from insufficient prayer coverage. This is the counter to that.

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Execution:

I started with prayer and began studying scripture for aspects to prayer I may have missed with the intent of capturing what a life-fully-enriched-with-prayer would look like.
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Day 14 Conclusions / Thoughts

Cursory observations and conclusions regarding prayer from scripture:

• Matthew 6 is absolutely rife with content and context
• Romans 8 teaches us that we need help praying
• We are to pray without fainting (stopping), pray for ourselves and others, and pray without the intent of being rewarded
• That prayer doesn't necessarily protect you from temptation (in fact you're to guard against it when you're praying)
• Righteousness comes from praying
• Usage of prayer to share one's faults can confer healing
• Most of the profound capabilities of believers resulted simply from faithful people praying

So the concept of righteousness is close to my heart - I've prayed over and dwelt on "The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." And I've wondered long days at who is righteous.  It seemed to me, before this bible study, that nobody knows if they're righteous - but that, if you are righteous, those items over which you pray will be impacted. Not because a righteous person is better - but, rather, the righteous person were likely given the desires of their heart AND God has made provision for those in that domain to succeed.

I think the heart of the impact of this much prayer is simply captured in the word "sufficient". If we are asking for how much, God has answered in two ways. The one, in the command to "pray without ceasing" - sufficient would be "constantly". The second answer is one supplied by Jesus in response to Peter - if you're keeping track, every single offence / need for prayer corresponds to 490 times you are to forgive/pray for such things.  Thus, isn't about accurate prayer accounting (in spite of how interesting a prayer accountant would be). It is about prayer density.

Which leads me to the initial heart of the post - prayer is a facilitation mechanism.  Through prayer we can see God's promises fulfilled, we have access to miracles, and we can have our heart transforms to be more Christ-like.  I find this last profound. In one fell swoop, sufficient, earnest prayer provides the ability to have a changed heart AND the confidence to understand we can be of use to God.

How do you renew your mind, be actually transformed, draw close to Christ, know His will, directly and indirectly impact loved ones and complete strangers, and acquire tools which will help you personally resolve conflict, acquire guidance and sufficiency on how to seek God?

Pray

Ceaseless

Link: Core Values
Focus: Prayer (3/7)
Day: 11/95
Pathway summary: Being faith-filled, fervent, continual, and heartfelt in my expressions, petitions, and supplications to God.
Justification: (2 Timothy 1:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; Matthew 6:5-13; Mark 9:23)
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Setup:

What does "praying without ceasing look like"?

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Prep:

Towards the end of really drawing out what Christ might have for me here, I looked up 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (Pray without ceasing) and checked the Concordance regarding its components.

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Execution:

I started off digging into the scripture - and was halfway through looking at the Concordance when I realized I hadn't prayed .... I wanted to really dig in so quickly that I forgot to use the very tool I was researching.  So I prayed (and apologized) and this post is the result.
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Day 11 Conclusions / Thoughts

The first pass of the verse suggests either clarity or the near absence of details.  "Pray without ceasing". Taking the liberty of looking at the original scripture is nearly absent of supplemental details.  Prayer is defined in a standard manner; "without ceasing" too has a very clear characterization.  Thus, this is either a colloquialism or there is something implicit to one of the three words that actual hearers of the original language would have known - and that was so obvious that they didn't bother to include it.

Scripture doesn't provide for any examples of non-verbal prayers ... but if we loosen up the word "prayer" to actually reflect a few other details, I think it clears things up.  First, the act of prayer is an artifact of having the correct motive, attitude, and focus - a properly aligned walk will result in prayer being the correct response to every situation. Thus, this is akin to rewriting this as "pray in response to all circumstances without ceasing". This is similar to the guidance to "in everything give thanks." The execution of this observations is that we're almost perpetually on the look-out for reasons to give glory to God - otherwise you'd miss the small, subtle opportunities to be thankful. And missing those opportunities would necessarily result in missing some of the less obvious (but much more devastating or horrific) events for which most of us respond with fear, surprise, anger, or whatever - instead we ought to be responding with prayer ... which we'd do if we were habitually responding to EVERYTHING with prayer.

Another aspect of praying without ceasing must take into consideration that we are not individual nodes intended to work as mindless cogs within an orderly machine. We are beautiful butterflies in the sensitive-dependent-upon-initial-conditions chaos theory machine that provides for the ordered macro universe while simultaneously providing for what appears to be directly-contradicted rule-sets for the micro/quantum universe.  And we are beautiful butterflies who are designed to work with other beautiful butterflies - which creates beautiful dependencies, and requires an intimate relationship between two or more butterflies to effectually function.

All of this to draw attention to our need for relationships - and the implicit idea that "praying without ceasing" can partly be expressed through sharing our prayer needs with others so we can ensure our needs are being prayed for while we spiritually recharge.  It is easy to use these sorts of verses as an argument to never feel adequate to our role as Christ-like; however, if you simply remember that God intended you to help others, to act in love and be support for your spiritual peers, you'd recall that each of us ought to trust there are others who can pray with you - and who need us to pray with them.

May you pray without ceasing - and remember it is a deeply beautiful thing to be a part of.

Tessellations

Link: Core Values
Focus: Prayer (2/7)
Day: 10/95
Pathway summary: Being faith-filled, fervent, continual, and heartfelt in my expressions, petitions, and supplications to God.
Justification: (2 Timothy 1:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; Matthew 6:5-13; Mark 9:23)
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Setup:

Scripture talks about different kinds of spoken prayer

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Prep:

I feel like being a prayer aficionado might help speak to how one ought to pray - but might also draw one away from simply praying in truth and wisdom

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Execution:

I started off praying - and did this entirely on my phone. There is a different feel to communicating via laptop vs a tiny screen.  If nothing else, having to type and retype the same words (due to spelling or flow) is simply more work on the phone.  On the flip-side, I am a little more thoughtful in the post because one-handed is slower than two.
The core of today's study came from something I stumbled onto during a different study - and the newness of it seems interesting.
Ultimately this post took 1.5 days to write - tied to both the bulk of the post being written on a phone (and later on a borrowed laptop) but also because it simply took more gumption to write it on the phone - and, given the late hour, I feel asleep before finishing.

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Day 10 Conclusions / Thoughts

On thinking about the different classes of prayer in scripture, I am gently struck by how much of a tessellation they are - where thematically they all have distinct voices but do the same thing.  For the curious, the list I ran into includes 8: of faith, of agreement, of supplication, of thanksgiving, of worship, of consecration, of intercession, and of imprecation.  In each case, the flavor of prayer is informed by who is being prayed for and with whom one is praying.  Some kinds of prayer only make sense if they are done alone, and the like.

In retrospect, this makes sense - as emotional tessellation is the heart of human relationship and intimacy. We have very distinct, but very similar relationships with everyone - each relationship is defined by the unique characteristic of the participants. Yet, to an onlooker, the basic tools for communication would appear the same, and without some additional information or relationship-specific gestures, most relationships are identical in appearance. And that is normal too - because it would be weird to shake elbows, smear ice-cream, or yell up another's nose.

Perhaps, then, the purpose of having specific kinds of relationships with others is intended to help us having a more streamlined relationship with God. If anyone could be said to be alien, it would be God (ironic, of course, in the sense that he was here WAY before we were, so we're functionally the aliens in that discussion - but all of those discussions would rationally be human-centric) which means that it is God that establishes the template of normality, and it is God that goes WAY past half-way to ensure we are given the opportunity to connect with him - to pray in a way that we can appreciate, emulate, and perceive.

Ultimately, prayer is an intensely quotidian opportunity to talk to the creator of the universe about literally anything. It is so easy to take it for granted because Christ has put in so much effort - something most of us like to use as an excuse for an apathetic attitude.  If we valued, consistently, those things around us based upon the effort of others, it would be a radical shift in the socio-economic infrastructure around us. I actually think we would convert from a Capitalistic to Socialistic society overnight - because the problem with socialism isn't the system: it's the people.  But that won't happen as long as sin abounds.

Which is when we ought to get all Romans 6 up in this piece ... but, given this post's focus - let us instead get proactive about being mindful of the voluminous blessing around us. There are reasons that Christ commands us to give thanks in all circumstances - and a huge part of it is the abundance that God puts before us:

• in faith (infrastructure exists wherein simply listening to scripture builds faith)
• in agreement (because when two or more are gathered in His name, Christ is present - an astounding thing that is terribly easy to take for granted)
• in supplication (that God has an expectation implicit to our relationship that we have consistent, enduring occasion to actually be able to ask for things)
• in thanksgiving (because without Christ, we wouldn't even be aware of what we need, that we need Him, or that our hearts are able to contain gratitude in the first place)
• in worship (because, by building in a need for intimacy and the discernment of awe, we are able to recognize and associate the daily amazement of existence with its creator - and with words that are convenient to us, while luxuriating in physical circumstances that just happen to be comfortable)
• in consecration (because being set apart has a cost - and the consequence of that cost is internal consecration - which helps us appreciate who God wants us to be and why it matters)
• in intercession (because God allows us to help others while simultaneously recognizing that help will ultimately come from Him, all in a reusable and convenient medium)
  and 
• in imprecation (because sometimes God wants us to speak truth into a situation by recognizing those who God ought to judge - but holding back the actual judgment - which provides us a way to literally get angry without sinning - because we're encourage to focus that anger in a way that honors God)

Ultimately it is simply amazing how many different directions our prayers can take - let us be mindful of this awesome capacity and respectful of its intent. And let us walk a righteous path so that our effectual fervent prayers can availeth much.

Ought

Link: Core Values
Focus: Prayer (1/7)
Day: 09/95
Pathway summary: Being faith filled, fervent, continual, and heartfelt in my expressions, petitions, and supplications to God..
Justification: (2 Timothy 1:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; Matthew 6:5-13; Mark 9:23)
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Setup:

So now I'm in the midst of a prayer study. What does scripture say about prayer? What is prayer?

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Prep:

I am going to start with the archetypal "Lord's Prayer" - that is Matthew 6:5-12

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Execution:

I started off praying - and feeling like I was a day late. God helped me have peace about my pacing and focus on the subject.  I also kept falling asleep - which is a reminder that prayer (in particular prayer without a purpose save itself) has always been a weakness of mine.  Good reminder that this is a fight and an area to shore.

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Day 9 Conclusions / Thoughts

My manual review of the Lord's Prayer brought to mind the areas, for me, which I've noted for a while - no vain repetition, being noticed for prayer is not the point, intimacy matters, how most of the Lord's prayer isn't about us at all - but about giving God glory.  And how poorly I tend to model this last part in my own prayers.  It is typical of me to basically talk to God and ask Him for stuff - like I'm in prison most of the time but sometimes I get to phone a friend - and the only person I all is God - but the only thing I have to talk about is stuff I want.

I think that's what this week will be for me - being aware and mindful of how often my thoughts are about myself.  In fact, this is something I was recently lauding myself for how ... (sadly) ... much I thought about God. I mean seriously, how egocentric do you have to be to give yourself a humility pin?

I've been thinking about the nature of prayer today - how prayer is basically us talking to God. Sometimes it is petitioning; but, it doesn't have to be.  And the nature of the dialog is definitively indicative of how we perceive God. If we see Him as a favored uncle, then we'll share some sorts of things and not others. If we see Him as a best friend, we'll share nearly everything - if not everything. If we see Him as a functional spouse (the hardest, arguably, in some ways), we'd literally share everything - and perhaps make it hard (in the best possible way) to become married to a brick-and-mortar human.  Because no human can possibly measure up to God.  Um, except maybe where hugs are concerned.

So prayer is about our walk with God. It's about our own spiritual growth - and what we even recognize needing to be fixed. It's about another layer of intimacy and being open (and available to be hurt) in a domain in which many of us have no mindful discernment.  It's about how every single thing we do, every thought we think, every action we didn't take, and every gesture we convey are all forms of prayer. Which is how one "prays without ceasing" - because otherwise we'd never have the opportunity to stop to breathe.

If nothing else, prayer today has helped me realize how much more I need God.

* The post title is a reminder about how I ought to pray - and how I often do not

Forgiveness

Link: Core Values
Focus: Holy Scripture (6/7)
Day: 06/95
Pathway summary: Study of the Word of God with expectation of Holy Spirit inspired revelation.
Justification: (Deuteronomy 6:6-9; Psalm 119; John 16:7-15; 2 Timothy 3:16-17)
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Setup:

Continuing the Bible study on Love.  These last four days are aspects of living out a path of love

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Prep:

Today's love-theme is forgiveness.  As it were, forging the ivy of bitterness.

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Execution:

I started off with prayer and a little confusion (how do you tackle forgiveness?) The Holy Spirit guided me to several verses (Mark 11:25, James 5:16, Matthew 18:21-22) and gave me a new understanding of the purpose and impact of forgiveness.

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Day 6 Conclusions / Thoughts

Forgiveness is one of those things that masquerades as other things because the impact and execution often is bigger than we might expect. Similar to prayer, forgiveness looks small on the surface. And it never is.  It is a quotidian iceberg.

The proper preparation for forgiveness is usually something as simple as recognizing the need for forgiveness. "He stole my bike", "She cheated on me", "I was fired!" - we each can so easily get tied up in the knots of false perception, of idolatry, of inaccurate or incomplete judgement. We can even more so be trapped under earnest, righteous judgement - how are we supposed to handle standard betrayals? "My Daddy touched me in the wrong place", "My spouse wants to look at pornography instead of me", "My best friend finally revealed she was only ever my friend to get to my brother - this, after ten years of getting to know her."

Forgiveness is the coin we use to "pay" our way across the chasm of crap. Nearly anything can trap us in doubt, in horror, in anger, in rage, in fear, in righteous indignation - and it is easy, when you are so trapped, to feel like there is no way out.  That's where forgiveness comes in - it releases you from the nefariously subtle emotional obligation to continue acting/feeling the same way you have been.

So we recognize the need - how do we do it and how do we keep it?

We do it by simply declaring "I forgive" to those involved. Forgive your wife for leaving your marriage by telling them "I forgive you for leaving me. I release you." - because the truth is, the physical consequences of the action do not go away - but you don't have to carry them around in your heart.  You don't have to rehash the pain, relive the injury, or renew the grievance. You can grow past it.

Forgiving the first time can sometimes be simply an act of will. Just a simple "I will forgive my son" to yourself or to God. Then, without airing the offence, give air to the forgiveness.

There is a release from simply intending to forgive - more with actual forgiveness - and often gives the opportunity to move away from the cause.  Because forgiveness doesn't solve problems or take away consequences ... but it does stop events from spreading, for taking a truly evil action and making it worse.

We keep it by committing to forgive over and over. The part about forgiveness I did not understand until I was older was that forgiveness is almost never a one-time-thing. The first time is the most painful and most public. But, up until God heals your heart, you have to forgive more than once - and over time it becomes a little easier; this is, in my opinion, because you don't have to mull over the decision to forgive again - you just repeat the same decision.

For a non-Christian, although there are near infinite reasons to forgive someone, it is easy to be motivated by the joy of reunion, the freedom of release, the ability to finally reconnect with the world in a way that the pain would not allow.

But for a Christian, in addition to the myriad of ways that the need for forgiveness arises, we have the amazing reality that it gives us a tool to grow closer to God. Additionally, practicing forgiveness in our own lives helps us understand the forgiveness He grants us - it gives us a tool to understand what God means when He says He forgave us of sins.

And I suspect being able to forgive is part of what God blessed us with when He made us in His own image.

Release

Link: Core Values
Focus: Holy Scripture (4/7)
Day: 04/95
Pathway summary: Study of the Word of God with expectation of Holy Spirit inspired revelation.
Justification: (Deuteronomy 6:6-9; Psalm 119; John 16:7-15; 2 Timothy 3:16-17)
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Setup:
Continuing the Bible study on Love.  I took a break that lasted a day longer than intended - and it took intention and effort to restart.  A reminder that change is possible but requires effort.
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Prep:
Today's love-theme is release.  Or re-lease.  As the implementation strikes.

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Execution:
I started off with prayer; I recognized I was not where I needed to be and felt like I hadn't grown. God reminded me that He is the one who does the changing and it was presumptive of me to presume that just asking for change would immediately cause it. Also - that I have changed, because I'm aware of the need AND then it was a reminder that Love is not always about doing the right thing - it's about not doing the wrong things.  Verse focus was 1 Corinthians 13:11.

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Day 4 Conclusions / Thoughts

So the best sorts of changes - the ones that are well-balanced, have a lasting impact, and cause the least amount of long-term damage - are my least favorite kind. The iterative ones - where you have to make the same decision repeatedly. Where you have to do it again. And again.  It's like a twisted lifetime-long "Who wants to be a millionaire" with oddly-appropriate people asking "are you sure".

This is easy when it is positive reinforcement. Yes, I like chocolate. Yes, I love my spouse. Yes, I do fit into the bracelet I wore twenty years ago.

It is hard to do with repentance. To repent, not just the first time, but every time. And to do so mindfully, willingly, gladly, and to give thanks while doing it.

And I've been learning that God really wants me to change - but, much like prayer is more for us than for Him (because He already knows what we're going to ask for AND knows what we need, so why ask?), repentance is our opportunity to be humbled, to rely upon Him, and to be aware of what we're repenting.  If repentance were easy - everybody would do it and it likely wouldn't have the same import.

But repentance, to turn away, to choose the less-comfortable path, is what we are called to do. We are to "put away childish things". What's a childish thing? Something that encourages you to act immature, to be selfish, to draw you away from God. Anything can be a childish thing.

And in that release, that repentance, that acceptance that we need God, we can be more Loving - in fact, we kind of get out of our own way.