The Beautiful Work of Learning to Pray: 31 Lessons - Softcover

Howell, James C

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0687027667 ISBN 13: 9780687027668

Verlag: Abingdon Press, 2003

Inhaltsangabe

Prayer is not easy, yet learning to pray can be learned. The Beautiful Work of Learning to Pray is a brief but probing guide into the life of prayer. James Howell examines the many barriers to prayer (such as our busyness, how uncomfortable with silence we are, our doubts and fears) and invites the reader to take a fresh approach to the devotional life. Each lesson begins with a scripture passage and the author draws comfortably and appropriately from a rich array of other sources (Annie Dillard, St. Augustine, Henri Nowen, Kathy Mattea, Madeleine L’Engle, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, St. Francis, Oscar Romero, and the movie Good Will Hunting are a sampling.) The author’s own engaging writing style, including his ability to illumine his ideas with the shared wisdom of others, is a major strength of this book. While each “lesson” is only two book pages long, the author draws from a deep well of wisdom about prayer. Howell leads the reader through the “subjects” of prayer (e.g. praise, confession, giving thanks), and digs deeply into theological issues such as whether prayer works, prayer and suffering, and forgiveness. According to the author, “In the end, prayer draws us into community with others-- out of our “curved in” lives and into the world in service.” The Beautiful Work of Learning to Pray will be helpful to the novice in spiritual life as well as long-time Christians who are striving for a more profound relationship with God. Includes Study Guide, List of Sources, and Scripture Index.

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James C. Howell is the senior pastor of Myers Park United Methodist Church in Charlotte, NC, and the author of more than 20 books, including Weak Enough to Lead, Conversations with St. Francis, The Life We Claim, and The Beautiful Work of Learning to Pray. His podcast, "Maybe I'm Amazed," blogs, and retreats are popular, as are his work on leadership and community activism.

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The Beautiful Work of Learning to Pray

31 Lessons

By James C. Howell

Abingdon Press

Copyright © 2003 Abingdon Press
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-687-02766-8

Contents

Introducing Prayer, 
THE LESSONS, 
1. Beginning, 
2. Closer Than We Think, 
3. Barriers to Prayer, 
4. Coldness, 
5. Pray as You Can, 
6. Time, 
7. What Is in Us, 
8. Bruised Knuckles, 
9. The Way to God, 
10. Silence, 
11. Scripture, 
12. Jesus Prayed the Psalms, 
13. Worship, 
14. Saints, 
15. Fasting, 
16. A Copernican Revolution, 
17. Praise, 
18. Gratitude, 
19. Confession, 
20. Not Your Fault, 
21. Repentance, 
22. Forgiveness (Part 1), 
23. Forgiveness (Part 2), 
24. Wounds, 
25. Renunciation, 
26. Feelings, 
27. The List, 
28. Healing (Part 1), 
29. Healing (Part 2), 
30. Fruitfulness, 
31. Call, 
Afterword: The End and the Beginning, 
Works Cited, 
Scripture Index, 
Index of Quoted Writers, 
A Guide for Small Groups by Kenneth H. Carter, Jr., 

CHAPTER 1

Lesson One

Beginning

In the beginning was the Word. —John 1:1

We begin our conversations on prayer. To some devout people, prayer is as natural as breathing. But to many modern people, prayer seems alien and futile. If you are bothering to read this, you probably are at least hopeful that there is such a thing as prayer, that there is a God on the other end, and that a meaningful relationship can happen.

Gazing across the centuries, we notice that prayer is pretty normal. About 50,000 years ago, when anthropologists say our ancestors' brain size began to expand and human beings came into their own, painted art began to appear on caves indicating religious belief. When human consciousness "woke up," there was born simultaneously—like a twin in the soul—an impulse to transcend earthly consciousness, and to connect with a power beyond. Humans have always yearned for something beyond ourselves, beyond this world. Primitive people prayed for rain, and fell on their knees when the crops ripened.

As our brains have gotten bigger and smarter, we have begun to shed our sense of dependence upon God. We have come to think of ourselves as masters of the universe, as arbiters of our own fate. In a smarter world, prayer has become confused and pushed to the margins of life.

But prayer is not contrary to intelligence. Perhaps prayer requires (or is!) a deeper intelligence. One thing we must recognize: prayer is not a way of getting a grip on our lives, of getting things under control. Prayer is the yielding of control. Prayer is discovering I am not the center of the universe, that God is working in hidden yet certain ways. Prayer is realizing we have a relationship with a good and loving God. Prayer is our openness to getting involved in God's adventure with us in the world.

Prayer is hard in our world, but prayer is possible—and desperately needed. Our hollowness, our cynicism, our hopelessness, these are signs from God who is crying out to us, encouraging us to reach out to God, to talk, to listen. We are more than flesh and blood. There is a mystery in my heart, and in yours, a mystery bigger than myself. Hans Urs von Balthasar wrote that each of us "is built like a tabernacle around a most sacred mystery.... This sanctuary is neglected and forgotten, like an overgrown tomb or an attic choked with rubbish, and it needs an effort... to clean it up and make it habitable But the room itself does not need to be built: it is already there."

And so let us begin by praying together: Lord, I do not know how to pray. My heart is hidden even from myself. But my heart is not hidden from you. I will need considerable help to clean the place up. Yet I will work energetically, expecting that you are there waiting for me, and for all of us, to come home. O Lord, teach us to pray. Amen.

CHAPTER 2

Lesson Two

Closer Than We Think

We do not know how to pray as we ought. —Romans 8:26

A twofold premise of these lessons is that (a) prayer isn't easy, but also that (b) prayer can be learned. Some of us learned "bedtime" prayers as children ("Now I lay me down to sleep ..."). Certainly throughout life we need to retain something of a childlike, simple, trusting approach to prayer. But usually as the rest of my "self" grows up, I need for my prayers to grow up as well, to become more mature. And as an adult, there is generally nobody there to remind you, "Now let's bow our heads and say our prayers."

Prayer is difficult, and we will diagnose some of the reasons (such as our busyness, all the noise, an inability to concentrate). Yet for me there are two kinds of comfort, two hopeful thoughts, hidden in the difficulties.

1. Sometimes we see somebody who seems to be a stalwart at prayer, some beaming, smiling paragon of spirituality whose soul appears to have a direct, fast-access line to heaven. To me, such people are discouraging. We need examples of how to pray! But it is paradoxically encouraging to discover that even the greatest saints of the Church have struggled with their prayer life. Some of Mother Teresa's letters have been published, revealing her struggles in prayer. For instance, she wrote, "I am told God lives in me, and yet the reality of darkness and coldness and emptiness is so great that nothing touches my soul." And, "Where I try to raise my thoughts to heaven, there is such convicting emptiness that those very thoughts return like sharp knives and hurt my very soul."

So we are never alone in our struggle, which leads to a more important truth:

2. Prayer isn't easy, but that doesn't mean God isn't there. The barriers to prayer are all on our side, and God is always thrashing at them, always drawing as close to us as our next breath. You can trust in this: When God seems most absent, God is surprisingly most present. Listen to Oscar Romero, the heroic archbishop of El Salvador, in a sermon preached on Good Friday one year before he was assassinated in 1980:

"God is not failing us when we don't feel his presence. Let's not say: God doesn't do what I pray for so much, and therefore I don't pray anymore. God exists, and he exists even more, the farther you feel from him. God is closer to you when you think he is farther away and doesn't hear you. When you feel the anguished desire for God to come near because you don't feel him present, then God is very close to your anguish. When are we going to understand that God not only gives happiness, but also tests our faithfulness in moments of affliction? It is then that prayer and religion have most merit: when one is faithful in spite of not feeling the Lord's presence. Let us learn from that cry of Christ that God is always our Father and never forsakes us, and that we are closer to him than we think."

A meaningful life of prayer is closer than you think. Romans 8:26 does not merely say, "We do not know how to pray as we ought." Paul also says, "The Spirit helps us in our weakness." This is our hope.

So we pray together. Lord, I do not know how to pray as I ought. I feel far from you. Thank you for refusing ever to be far from me. I am encouraged knowing that I am closer to you than I have imagined. I am not alone, and we are not alone. You are always with me, with us. O Lord, teach us to pray. Amen.

CHAPTER 3

Lesson Three

Barriers to...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Abingdon Press
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2003
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0687027667
• ISBN 13: 9780687027668
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 122
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: gpsr@libri.de; gpsr@libri.de; ; Europaallee 1; Bad Hersfeld; 36244; Deutschland