Day 8.

 

Wisdom.

23rd Psalm.

Robert Alter's translation.

 #rethinkchurch

Prayer

PRAYER

The focus of prayer is not the self. Prayer comes to pass in a complete turning of the heart toward God, toward His goodness and power.


Prayer is an invitation to God to intervene in our lives, to let His will prevail in our affairs.


We go hopelessly astray if we think of prayer as a selfish endeavor to persuade or inveigle, or browbeat God to do us a favor, or win us a victory, or even help us in some dire distress.


He is not some kind of divine bellhop, to be summoned, as by the pressing of a button, to the service of our passing whims.

God does not come to us, but we to Him – and prayer is the high road to His presence.


Prayer does not change God, but changes him who prays.


Prayer cannot mend a broken bridge, rebuild a ruined city, or bring water to parched fields.
Prayer can mend a broken heart, lift up a discouraged soul, and strengthen a weakened will.


Prayer digs the channels from the reservoir of God’s boundless resources to the tiny pools of our lives.

Our prayers are answered not when we are given what we ask, but when we are challenged to be what we can be.


If I recite my wants, it is not to remind You of them, but only that I may be conscious of my dependence upon You.


Prayer is answered when it enables us to act as God desires.

If you would have God hear you when you pray, you must hear Him when He speaks.


Prayer requires more of the heart than of the tongue.


It is for us to pray not for tasks equal to our powers, but for powers equal to our tasks.


True worship is not a petition to God: it is a sermon to ourselves.


By benevolence man rises to a height where he meets God. Therefore do a good deed before you begin your prayers.


Who rises from prayer a better man, his prayer is answered.


Pray as if everything depended on God, and work as if everything depended on you.

 

Thought from: Abraham J. Heschel, John Holmes, Søren Kierkegaard, F. Ibserhan, E. Strangy Jones, Morris Adler, Bahya Ibw Pakuda, Ernest F. Scott, Thomas Brooks, Adam Clarke, Helen, Keller, Emil G. Hirsch, Hai Gaon, George Meridth

Marc Chagall, "Jew at Prayer"

"Prayer" was given to me by a coworker. Her father was a Rabbi. After his death, she found “Prayer” among the many papers her father had saved from his many years in ministry.

“Prayer” is an anthology of sorts. A collection of quotes on the nature of prayer from great men and women of faith and thought across many years. It is a sort of contemporary piece of Wisdom Literature echoing some of the literary traditions which can be found in the Hebrew Bible.

My friend was gracious enough to share it with me and I am delighted to share it here.

For your own personal spiritual growth, you might find some value in reading each line of “Prayer” slowly, over time and sitting silently with each line's particular wisdom for a while, allowing it to connect most deeply with your own spiritual longings.

If you know where this came from, you are invited to leave a comment. Heck, you are invited to leave a comment anyway. How do you connect with this modern piece of Wisdom Literature?

Psalm 55:1-2

“Hear my prayer, O God;

don’t turn away form my plea!

Listen to me and answer me;

I am worn out by my worries.”

“There must be a time when the man of prayer goes to pray as if it were the first time in his life he had ever prayed; when the man of resolutions puts his resolutions aside as if they had all been broken, and he learns a different wisdom: distinguishing the sun from the moon, the stars from the darkness, the sea from the dry land, and the night sky from the shoulder of a hill.” - From No Man is an Island. Thomas Merton.


As we bring our hearts in prayer this week may we pray to set aside, even for the briefest of moments, all our broken promises and unfulfilled hopes and paralyzing fears, offering our pleas before the Lord as if for the first time. May we come with no reserves or strengths, no judgments of ourselves, our families, our neighbors or our God. Let our hearts seek, unburdened in this place, the wisdom of creation which discerns the truth of the world in which we live. And in that seeking may our hearts find that wisdom which sees more clearly the truth of those we love, of our friends and neighbors, of our selves and of our God. Amen.

Pray for Enduring Wisdom in the New Year

Though an army besiege me,

My heart will not fear;

Though war break out against me,

even then I will be confident.

Psalm 27:3

"Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it."

Lou Holtz

Coach Holtz will be 73 this week.

He is the only coach in the NCAA to lead 6 different football programs to bowl games.

The most ancient and enduring wisdom finds its way into every life that is called in adversity. Come in faith to prayer this week. Bring your battling, bring your fear, and bring whatever war is raging within you. Pray with a confident heart to the One whose safe dwelling has kept your life thus far. Pray confident of finding shelter there in that holy place within. Pray confident that from that Place, you will know how once again how to face your adversity and respond. Amen