Through Lattice Windows: Pondering Prayer
"Prayer is one of those things which we think we know about, but which, when questioned on, we often find hard to describe or explain,'' writes Leanne Hunt.
Silent meditation … liturgical recitation … babbling in unknown tongues … all of these are recognisable kinds of prayer, but what on earth links them?
Prayer is one of those things which we think we know about, but which, when questioned on, we often find hard to describe or explain.
Recently, I found myself having a conversation over lunch with a family member whom I hadn't seen for a long time, and realising that we were on completely different pages when it came to this subject. I had been telling her about a retreat I'd been on, and about how it had helped me get back on track after a long period of drought. She, in turn, told me about a book she'd been reading, in which the practice of praying in the Spirit was thought to be responsible for many miracles taking place among drug-dealers and prostitutes. At that point, I registered a collision between two different paradigms - an observation which led to an intriguing thought-journey through all the kinds of prayer I'd ever come across.
First, there is prayer for provision of basic resources, such as food or shelter. Second, there is prayer for help in times of trouble, when we ask for deliverance or rescue from harm. Third, there is prayer for a successful outcome, where what we want is rewards for good behaviour or effort. Fourth, there is prayer for strength to carry out a task, such as building a house or leading a team into a challenging situation.
These four types of prayer are familiar to everyone used to church liturgy. A fifth kind of prayer which is also found in church is thanksgiving, where we acknowledge the source of our provision, help, blessings and strength with an attitude of praise. For me, this was once the ultimate form of prayer. I couldn't conceive of anything more heartfelt and surrendered than utter worship and adoration for the Lord of my life. Yet I have since discovered deeper levels.
Praying in the Spirit belongs to a level of prayer which is beyond rational thought. This makes it hard to comprehend unless you have reached the point where reason feels like an inhibiting force. You let go of common sense and let random syllables come together in random patterns to form random words. The idea is that, while you haven't got a clue what you are saying to God, He perceives the cry of your heart and can respond by meeting your real - and not your stated - need. In other words, it gets around the problem of self-delusion and false piety.
Praying in tongues is only one version of this kind of prayer, though. I have since found that it is not just random syllables that can be connected. Random images, random theories, random impressions, random notes of music, and anything else imaginable can be linked when there are no laws to say what you can and cannot do.
This kind of prayer takes you into the realm of infinite possibility. It is where artists find their inspiration and scientists find their genius. It is where statesmen find their solutions to insoluble political problems and researchers find their hypotheses for inexplicable natural phenomena. Beyond conventions, and sometimes even beyond propriety, this realm is the birth-place of miracles.
Moving on from the sixth to the seventh kind of prayer, we find something even more strange. To some, it may look nothing like prayer at all, but it is. When Jesus stood before the tomb of Lazarus and called him out, he was praying. We know this because the text records him using a form of conventional prayer for the sake of those standing nearby, suggesting that it wasn't really necessary for the miracle to occur. This seventh kind of prayer is effectively pure action without acknowledgement of God's involvement. Not that God isn't involved, but His involvement is so intimate and present that it doesn't even require mention. It is as integral as breathing. Thus, Jesus could command Lazarus to rise, and the blind man to see, and the lame man to walk, simply by speaking the words.
From a formal request to the Almighty to a direct command to another person - or tree, or basket of loaves and fishes, for that matter - prayer spans a startlingly wide variety of forms. People may use recognised prayer practices, or they may invent their own personalised method of accessing spiritual power. In every case, the thing that unites all forms of prayer is the faith which the people practising them demonstrate.
So much for a collision of paradigms, then. My lunch companion, the author of the book she'd read, the nuns at the retreat centre, and myself, were all of one mind. We all faithfully practised prayer in hope of a loving outcome.
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Do please visit Leanne's Web site http://diamondpanes.blogspot.com/
