Prayer and the pray-er

A theme that emerges a lot from my friends is that they would like their friends to pray for them, for some issue. It's not surprising. The people I hang with tend to be people with deep, abiding faith, and they know that I am such, also. And, so, I type on their post that I will pray for them.

Isn't typing easy?

Prayer, on the other hand. . .

Some examples: I pray for Kim and her daughter who have some difficult health issues. That prayer would be so empty, but I'm a dad to five, and I know the sleepless nights and endless worry. I can enter into their suffering, because I can identify. Typing is easy, but reminding myself of what that suffering was like, and thus pulling the prayer up from the depths of my soul, is something else again.

I pray for a former third-shift colleague who has battled some of the same health issues that I do, and has had a really (REALLY) significant new issue. Having been through much of that, I can pray for her from the depths. I hope you know that, even if I'm not with you, Pam, I am with you.

I pray for a niece (OK, technically a - niece-in-law?) who has had one child, is awaiting their second, and has had great difficulties each time. I've never been pregnant (how's THAT for stating the obvious?) but my wife and some daughters have experienced difficult pregnancies. I've never met Leah - I hope to some day - but I can pray from the depths because I've seen some of the problems of pregnancy up close and personal.

I have prayed for someone who works on the same program as I. Actually, I've prayed for her husband, who injured himself playing basketball. They thought it was a broken ankle. It wasn't, apparently, and we're glad. But, I tore a calf muscle once, and being immobile is pure misery. So, I pray for him, because of the misery. I pray for her, because my being immobile put those around me in misery.I'm guessing. . .

And I have prayed for my own family, in countless ways and for countless reasons. For myself, usually more than once a day, "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

I would not suggest that a person can't pray for another's issues unless they have themselves gone through those same issues. That would be nonsense. I don't see God keeping a reject file of prayer, and those having troubles would appreciate all prayer from anyone.

As I look through this list, doesn't it seem that it's a shopping list? "God, I want this, and that, and - no, not that grape jam, I want the strawberry preserves!" And, maybe if our whole prayer is "God, I want the strawberry preserves!" we don't hear God saying, "My plan is grape jam. Sorry!" Or - "The strawberry preserves were to be your surprise later."

A second method of prayer has been a blessing to me. It's not "I want, I want, I want. . ." I still do the prayer of supplication, because I believe in the power of that prayer, and I love the awesome God in whom I believe. But, it is so easy for that to become a one-way conversation. So the other method of prayer I've found valuable:

Just be quiet. Listen. Rest in the presence of that awesome, loving God.

This is, in my experience, a far more difficult prayer to offer. You create a quiet space. And then, quietly enjoy His presence. But then your own mind keeps making its own noise. Try it sometime. Just sit quietly, even for five minutes. It won't take that long for your own thoughts to pop up, seemingly out of nowhere, and you can't just shove them back into place. (The secret here: DON'T fight those thoughts. Just become an observer as they float by.)

You may find it useful to enter into this prayer by a slow, meditative reading of a passage of Scripture. This should not be a long passage - a chapter is too much - and you read it until some word or phrase catches your attention. Focus on that. Turn it over and over in your mind. Let it become your prayer word.

Much has been written about this contemplative type of prayer, or centering prayer, and lectio divina ("divine reading"), and I won't try to capture it all. It has meant much to me.

As always, thanks for hanging with me for a few. I'd love your thoughts! I appreciate all of the responses  to the posts, whether you agree or not. It helps me to know I'm not sailing these off into thin air.