Some Thoughts on Prayer

Some Thoughts on Prayer

Prayer is vastly superior to worry. With worry, we are helpless; with prayer, we are interceding. When I hear sad news, I try to say a prayer for the victims. When I am troubled, I will say a prayer that asks for relief for myself and for all those who suffer as I do.

“I pray for all other people who feel anxious and edgy at this moment.”

When I am concerned about my relatives or friends, I say a short prayer to myself — “May they be happy and free of suffering.”
Mary Pipher, Seeking Peace: Chronicles of the Worst Buddhist in the World, Riverhead Books, 2009, pp. 188–189.

I found this to be an extraordinarily honest and interesting book.

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Another Look at Prayer

From Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding The Heart’s True Home, HarperSanFrancisco, 1992. Copying from the 1992 edition on “Authoritative Prayer” (pp. 234–242), here is the chapter’s powerful ending prayer:

“In the strong name of Jesus Christ I stand against the world, the flesh, and the devil. I resist every force that would seek to distract me from my center in God. I reject the distorted concepts and ideas that make sin plausible and desirable. I oppose every attempt to keep me from knowing full fellowship with God.

By the power of the Holy Spirit I speak directly to the thoughts, emotions, and desires of my heart and command you to find your satisfaction in the infinite variety of God’s love rather than the bland diet of sin. I call upon the good, the true, and the beautiful to rise up within me and the evil to subside. I ask for an increase of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

By the authority of almighty God I tear down Satan’s strongholds in my life, in the lives of those I love, and in the society in which I live. I take into myself the weapons of truth, righteousness, peace, salvation, the word of God, and prayer. I command every evil influence to leave; you have no right here and I allow you no point of entry. I ask for an increase of faith, hope, and love so that, by the power of God, I can be a light set on a hill, using truth and justice to flourish.

These things I pray for the sake of him who loved me and gave himself for me. — Amen.”

Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding The Heart’s True Home, HarperSanFrancisco, 1992, p. 242.

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My Own Reflections

For myself, I struggle with the concept of prayer. Oh how I wish my friend Bobbie — she died in August 2010 — was here to talk with. Bobbie had faith; I observed her faith and felt her “prayer” for me. Does it matter if I believe in Jesus Christ or not? Jesus was tarnished for me by wrong teachings in his name.

I believe in George Fox, the Quakers, and in Margaret Fell Fox, who married George Fox and was so effectively active during Quakerism’s founding. In fact, Margaret Fell Fox was my beginning draw to the Quakers — to a belief that honored women and felt them equal, my strong personal belief.

What do I name the “light” I can sometimes feel in meditation?
A different level of consciousness? Yes, of course. Communication with “all that is”? Such a feeling of peace, of healing, of everything being perfect — of I AM suddenly a perfect “how I am supposed to be,” the perfect me.

Is this, in fact, a Christ Consciousness, although I never named it thus? I don’t have a name. And another thing I’m wondering — does the name of this consciousness simply follow our beliefs? For example: I believe in Christ, so I see, hear from, and communicate with Christ. And conversely: I believe in Buddha, so I see, hear from, and communicate with Buddha? Yes, I think that might be it.

I remember faintly, once long ago, I felt a Taoist master’s visit; I saw him. I was deep then into the study of Taoism. This current explanation does not fully satisfy. Where is my belief? What is it? What got me to this glorious experience of “light”? And how do I get more?

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Foster on Authoritative Prayer

Foster gives examples from his own experience of curing through prayer:

“Placing my hands on Gloria’s head, I prayed with all the authority and tenderness I could muster. I ordered the darkness — whatever it was — to leave and to go into the strong arms of Jesus. Gloria began weeping — a deep, inward weeping accompanied by huge sighs. I invited the peace and the love of God to enter her, filling every aspect of her mind, body, and spirit. And the darkness left. The peace came. Together we sat in perfect silence, sensing the flow of grace and mercy. That was ten years ago, and the darkness has never returned.”

Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding The Heart’s True Home, pp. 236–237.

Next, Foster shares:

• Not every pain is a devil.
• We don’t have to do anything special: “If the power of God is present, then we do not need any special effects, and if the divine authority is absent, then all the gymnastics in the world will not make up for the deficiency.”
• “We have special resources to draw upon,” p. 237.

My concluding notes: I felt his notes on his last two chapters — Authoritative & Radical Prayer — are most informative and deeply spiritual (pp. 242–244).

“The weapons of our resistance make us appear to be completely irrelevant to a world based on power, efficiency, and control. We speak the truth. We pray for our enemies. We refuse to cooperate with injustice. And yet, incredible as it may seem, these weapons are powerful, pulling down strongholds and bringing to birth the righteous and peaceable kingdom of Jesus.”

Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding The Heart’s True Home, p. 248.

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Concluding Thoughts from Mary Pipher

“It helps to realize we are not alone. One thing I like to do is send my silent good wishes to people all over the world who have problems exactly like my own. Contexts may change, but emotions are universal. We can always pray for the people who are feeling as we are at any given moment. ‘I pray for all the people who are lacking in confidence.’ ‘I send a blessing to those who are frightened.’ As I pray for others who suffer, I join an ancient and populous demographic group. My heart softens and I can feel mercy for us all. We all have our little rituals.”

Mary Pipher, Seeking Peace: Chronicles of the Worst Buddhist in the World, Riverhead Books, 2009, p. 167.

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