Dear RLP,
You wrote something in an essay in your book
called, "Why Don't You Write Something About Prayer?"
"You don't pray so you can change things in
the world. It's not magic. You might ask, and you might hope for change, but
ultimately changing things cannot be your motivation."
This leaves me with the question, what the
heck is your motivation supposed to be? To see more of God? To be changed so
that you become the answer to your prayer? I've read stuff to that effect.
With thanks, A.
-----------------------------------------
A,
I think that if your only motivation for praying
is hoping to receive something, you are likely going to be disappointed. Prayer
is a long journey of listening and slowly becoming. I think the journey itself
is the most important thing.
But that's a rather mysterious answer, isn't
it? It's the sort of thing a person understands in hindsight. It's the kind of
answer that might be true, but might not be helpful. Why don't I share with you
some of my own more specific motivations for praying.
If I close my eyes and think about my own
journey of prayer, here are some motivations that come to mind:
- I pray in obedience to Christ, who
commanded us to pray. That's probably the bottom line for me. Jesus prayed a
lot. All night sometimes. If I call myself a follower of Christ, I must
become humble enough to do the same, even if I do not understand prayer.
(And I do NOT understand it.)
- I pray out of a desire to communicate with
the Creator of all that is. I have a desire to become more aware of the
constant presence of God in the world. Yes, I have this crazy hope that
praying might lead me in this direction. However, I'm not looking for quick
fixes or even to feel good on some specific day. Even this very healthy
desire can become an idol if I only pray to achieve some kind of
enlightenment
- I pray to honestly express my desires for
myself and for others. In this, I pray very much as a child would pray. What
God does with these intercessions, I do not know. It doesn't seem important
to me at this stage of the game.
- I pray because I am very small and the
intelligence behind the universe is very large. Prayer is humbling, and
proper humility is a good thing.
- I pray because I want to. I like it. Just
today I sat before a beautiful fountain, listening and whispering small
prayers. I enjoy praying, especially a contemplative and meditative sort of
praying. I find it more relaxing now that I've quit thinking of prayer as a
job or a chore.
If you desire to know about prayer, that desire
is a wonderful place to start. You don't need manuals or instructions. Just sit
quietly and be honest if and when you speak.
rlp
Used with permission from A. Slightly edited
from the original.
