shared in Philadelphia, Nov 2009

1. prayer …
… as a way of life

2. Prayer
For the rest of us

3. And pray in the Spirit on
all occasions with all
kinds of prayers and
requests. With this in
mind, be alert and always
keep on praying for all the
saints. Pray for me …
Pray … (Ephesians 6:18-20)

4. Matthew 6
‘Beware of practicing your piety before others in
order to be seen by them; for then you have no
reward from your Father in heaven.
2 ‘So whenever you give alms, do not sound a
trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the
synagogues and in the streets, so that they may
be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have
received their reward. 3But when you give alms,
do not let your left hand know what your right
hand is doing, 4so that your alms may be done in
secret; and your Father who sees in secret will
reward you.*

5. 5 ‘And whenever you pray, do not be like the
hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in
the synagogues and at the street corners, so
that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell
you, they have received their reward. 6But
whenever you pray, go into your room and
shut the door and pray to your Father who is
in secret; and your Father who sees in secret
will reward you.*
7 ‘When you are praying, do not heap up empty
phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that
they will be heard because of their many words.
8
Do not be like them, for your Father knows
what you need before you ask him.

6. 9 ‘Pray then in this way:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11
Give us this day our daily bread.*
12
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13
And do not bring us to the time of trial,*
but rescue us from the evil one.*
14
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your
heavenly Father will also forgive you; 15but if you
do not forgive others, neither will your Father

7. To clasp the hands in prayer is the
beginning of an uprising against the
disorder of the world. – Karl Barth

9. Our Father, above us and
all around us …
May your unspeakable
Name be revered.
Here on earth may your kingdom come.
On earth, as in heaven, may your will
be done.

10. Give us today our bread for
today.
Forgive us our wrongs as we
forgive.
Lead us away from the perilous trial;
liberate us from the evil.

11. For the kingdom is yours and yours alone,
the power is yours and yours alone, and the
glory is yours and yours alone,
Now and forever. Amen.

12. Conventional View Emerging View
The Human God created the world as perfect, God created the world as good, but
Situation: What but because our primal human beings – as individuals, and as
is the story that
ancestors, Adam and Eve, did groups – have rebelled against God and
we find not maintain the absolute filled the world with evil and injustice
ourselves in? perfection demanded by God, like a terrible disease. God wants to save
God has irrevocably determined humanity and heal it from its sickness,
that the entire universe and all it but humanity is hopelessly lost and
contains will be destroyed, and confused, like sheep without a shepherd,
the souls of all human beings – wandering farther and farther into
except for those specifically lostness and danger. Left to themselves,
exempted – will be forever human beings will spiral downward in
punished for their imperfection sickness and evil.
in hell.1
Basic Since everyone is doomed to Since the human race is in such desperate
Questions: What hell, Jesus seeks to answer these trouble, Jesus seeks to answer this
questions did questions: how can individuals question: what must be done about the
Jesus come to be saved from eternal mess we’re in? The mess refers both to
answer? punishment in hell and instead the general human condition and its
go to heaven after they die? How specific outworking among his
can God help individuals be contemporaries: living under domination
happy and successful until then? by the Roman empire, and divided into
various competing sects.
Jesus’ message: Jesus says, in essence, “If you Jesus says, in essence, “Other people and
How did Jesus want to be among those groups – including your own religious
respond to the specifically qualified to escape leaders - are leading you farther and
crisis? being forever punished for your farther astray. I have been sent by God
sins in hell, you must repent of with this good news – that God loves
your individual sins and believe humanity, even in its lostness and sin.
that my Father punished me on God graciously invites everyone and
the cross so He won’t have to anyone to question and reject what they
punish you in hell. Only if you have been told and instead follow a new
believe this will you go to path. Trust me and become my disciple,
heaven when everyone else is and you will be transformed, and you will
banished to hell.”2 This is the participate in the transformation of the
good news. world, which is possible, beginning right
now.”3 This is the good news.
1
Of course, there are many modern western non-religious ontologies and framing stories too,
plus Eastern ontologies and framing stories – both religious and irreligious.
2
This reflects a Calvinistic Evangelical protestant version of the message. The popular Roman
Catholic version might say, “You must believe in the teachings of the church and follow its
instructions, especially those regarding sacraments.” The popular mainline or liberal Protestant

13. Springtime
prayers ...

14. Here!
(prayer of invocation)
prayer that awakens
Here I am, Lord.
Her you are, Lord.
Here we are together.

15. Thanks!
(prayer of thanksgiving)
prayer that rejoices

16. Thanks!
(prayer of thanksgiving)
prayer that rejoices
Happiness doesn’t come from having,
but from appreciating ...
“Don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s
gone …”

17. O!
(prayer of worship and praise)
prayer that turns from appreciation of
the gift to appreciation of the giver ...
You are ...

18. Summer-time
prayers ...

19. Sorry!
(prayer of confession)
prayer that regrets

20. Sorry!
(prayer of confession)
If you can’t be perfect/pure, at least
be ...
Regret versus denial, blame, self-
defense
The self that confesses steps away
from the self that transgresses
Having compassion on yourself

21. Help!
(prayer of petition)
prayer that reaches out

22. Help!
(prayer of petition)
Admitting weaknesses and needs,
creating receptivity … “I’m not OK”
Need versus pretense, humility versus
pride, brokenness versus bitterness.
For me, for us ...

23. Please!
(prayer of intercession)
prayer that builds compassion

24. Please!
(prayer of intercession)
prayer that builds compassion
Callous heart, overwhelmed heart
Joining the heart to the heart of God
Siding with how things should (and
could) be.
Prayer for enemies ...

25. Autumn
prayers ...
Here, thanks, O!
Sorry, help, please!

26. When?
(prayer of aspiration, exasperation)
prayer that waits
How long?
Too long! (exasperation)
Acknowledging “the gap”

27. No!
(prayer of outrage)
prayer that refuses to be silent:
This is unacceptable!

28. Why?
(prayer of lament)
prayer that groans

29. Why?
(prayer of lament)
A faith that can admit it doesn’t
understand, it doesn’t know - but it
still believes.
Options - God? Pain? Neither? Both?
Living in the mystery and pain

30. Winter
prayers ...
Here, thanks, O!
Sorry, help, please!
When? No! Why?

31. Behold.
(prayer of meditation)
prayer that sees

32. Behold.
(prayer of meditation)
There is a difference between the real
God and my beliefs about God.
The power of focused attention ...

35. Behold.
(prayer of meditation)
There is a difference between the real
God and my beliefs about God.
The power of focused attention ...
Seeing beyond analyzing
(Non-dual seeing)

36. Yes.
(prayer of consecration)
prayer that joins God

37. Yes.
(prayer of consecration)
prayer that joins God
In peace. In suffering. In service. In
patience. In work. In self-giving. In
rest.

38. [-]
(prayer of contemplation)
prayer that listens

39. [-]
(prayer of contemplation)
Psalm 131 - a weaned child, listening
to the heartbeat.
Quietness versus anxiety, stillness
versus turbulence

40. Thoughts on
Silence
from Henri Nouwen,
The Way of the Heart
(Ballantine, 1981), pp 39-45

41. Let us focus for a moment on theological
education. What else is the goal of theological
education than to bring us closer to the Lord
our God so that we may be more faithful to the
great commandment to love him with all our
heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind,
and our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew
22:37)? Seminaries and divinity schools must
lead theology students into an ever-growing
communion with God, with each other, and
with their fellow human beings. Theological
education is meant to form our whole person
toward an increasing conformity with the mind
of Christ so that our way of praying and our
way of believing will be one.

42. But is this what takes place? Often it seems
that we who study or teach theology find
ourselves entangled in such a complex
network of discussions, debates, and
arguments about God and "God-issues"
that a simple conversation with God or a
simple presence to God has become
practically impossible. Our heightened
verbal ability, which enables us to make
many distinctions, has sometimes become
a poor substitute for a single-minded
commitment to the Word who is life.

43. ...This is not to say that critical
intellectual work and the subtle
distinctions it requires have no
place in theological training. But
when our words are no longer a
reflection of the divine Word in
and through whom the world has
been created and redeemed, they
lose their grounding and become
as seductive and misleading as

44. The Taoist philosopher Chuang Tzu
expresses this well in the following way:
“The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish
and when the fish are caught, the trap is
forgotten. The purpose of a rabbit snare is
to catch rabbits. When the rabbits are
caught, the snare is forgotten. The
purpose of the word is to convey ideas.
When the ideas are grasped, the words are
forgotten. Where can I find a man who has
forgotten words? He is the one I would
like to talk to.”

45. Diadochus of Photiki offers us a very concrete
image:
“When the door of the steambath is
continually left open, the heat inside
rapidly escapes through it; likewise the
soul, in its desire to say many things,
dissipates its remembrance of God
through the door of speech, even though
everything it says may be good.
Thereafter, the intellect, though lacking
appropriate ideas, pours out a welter of
confused thoughts to anyone it meets ...”

46. Winter
prayers ...
Here, thanks, O!
Sorry, help, please!
When? No! Why?
Behold. Yes. [ - ]
Then, Spring again!

47. Prayer
The Leader’s Secret Life