I am excited to share a guest post by Justin Coutts. You can learn more about Justin at In Search of a New Eden.
You may have heard that prayer is essential to living a spiritual life. We often hear people say “I need to pray about that” or “take it to God in prayer”. But what actually is prayer, how should we do it, and why is it important? The first question we need to answer is what even is prayer? There are as many answers to this question as there are people who pray. One very common understanding of prayer is that it is a way we ask God to do something for us. We ask God to heal Grandma’s cancer or help little Jimmy stop getting into trouble at school or to keep the weather nice for our family picnic. And this is a great place to start, but it’s a terrible place to stop. This kind of prayer, traditionally referred to as a petition, is shallow. It is primarily concerned with what you need and how you can get God to give it to you. It’s a kind of negotiation with your creator.
If you have kids you may be familiar with this from the other side. “Mom, can I please play video games? I promise to be good” or “Dad, tell my sister to stop beating me up”. As a parent, you know there’s nothing wrong with these kinds of questions but you’re holding out for the day when your child asks you something more like “I’m having trouble with my friends at school, what do you think I should do?”. That transition from asking God to do something for you to asking God for wisdom and guidance is a sign of maturity in your prayer life, just as it is in our children.
Our prayer lives are meant to mature. If we always view God as the Cosmic Coke Machine into which we put all the right things and push the right buttons and out pops what we want, we will be praying at an immature level. But that doesn’t mean we should stop at asking God for guidance and wisdom either. As we continue to mature in our prayer we discover yet another, deeper level. It is the simple love of God and gratitude for all his works. There is no sweeter moment for a parent than when a child says something like “Thank you for everything you do for me, I love you”. Usually, it is after a child has grown and had time to reflect on why you didn’t give them every cookie they asked for, or how they didn’t accept the advice you gave them because they weren’t ready to hear it. Words like these from a child mean you have helped them to grow into a person with humility and understanding.
Yet, even beyond gratitude there is a hidden mystery in prayer that runs deeper than any metaphor of parent child relationships can describe. It is the mystical union, the joining of what is mortal with what is eternal. It is a kind of prayer which moves beyond what God has done or could do. It moves beyond what you need and want and are grateful for. It moves beyond ideas and words altogether. This is the hidden mystery behind prayer, it is the contemplative experience, it is what every mystic is searching for. Because this kind of prayer exists beyond ideas and formulations it is completely possible, and even quite common, for a person to be living this kind of prayer without even realizing it. It is less something you do as something you become. This is what Paul meant when he taught us to pray without ceasing. This is the prayer that envelopes our entire being. This is the prayer all the others were preparing us for.
And so, this prayer is the most important. Again, that doesn’t mean the other prayers are bad. It’s good to pray for healing, or for wisdom, or to give thanks. These are all genuine expressions of our human condition, and being real and genuine with God is so important. So pray those prayers because they are good. But also find the prayer which is not an idea, which is not a conversation with God but a union with God. It should be the ultimate goal of every Christian to become like Christ. To have our being in Christ. To live in him as he lives in us. With patience and genuine desire you can become this kind of prayer. And I pray that you do.
Justin now has a new course out!
Sacred Spaces: Contemplation and the Celtic Spirit
“In this retreat we will be taking a deeper look at the sacred around us and within us and how we can create spaces for both. If you are seeking more of what is sacred in your life, then this is a great place to start.
As the name hints, we talk about contemplation from a Celtic perspective. In the Celtic tradition action and contemplation are fully entwined and so we talk about centering prayer but also ways to connect to the divine through nature and how to understand our place within creation and what makes humanity unique.”
I frequently update my Resource page with new books, audios and web sites.
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Contemplative Light offers courses on contemplative practices (Christian Meditation, Centering Prayer, The Examen, Lectio Divina, The Jesus Prayer), the Christian mystics (ancient and current) and spiritual writing. Peruse their wonderful offerings.
Soulful Aging by Thomas Moore: As everyone knows, we are growing older all the time. But growing older is not the same as aging. Many people seem to grow older without going through the challenging life processes that make you a real person of substance and character. That kind of aging requires saying yes to the opportunities and difficult issues that life presents.
A Journey of Discernment with the teachings of Mary Margaret Funk and other contemplative voices by Contemplative Outreach, Mary Margaret Funk: This e-course explores the contemplative approach to discerning the small and large decisions in life, which comes from cultivating a life practice of unceasing prayer (whatever types of prayer that may encompass for you). Discernment means sorting our thoughts and following the impulse of grace given by the Holy Spirit. As Sr. Meg writes, “Since we are not our thoughts, we can observe them rising and follow the ones that are from God.” This is a way of coming more awake and discovering the spark of divinity burning in our hearts.
Poetry and Prayer from the Celtic Tradition by Carl McColman: The traditional Celtic people of Scotland, Ireland, and Wales wove prayers, blessings, poems, and songs into every aspect of their daily lives — using the power of language to blend a rich spirituality of presence and wisdom into the very fabric of their being. Many of these poetic invocations and charming poems were collected by folklorist Alexander Carmichael over 100 years ago and preserved in the book Carmina Gadelica — the “Charms of the Gaels.”
The Teachings of Meister Eckhart: An Invitation to Experience God in Every Moment: The 13th-century mystic Meister Eckhart was the most brilliant Christian scholar of his day, but he was also legendary for the way that he opened listeners to the direct experience of God during his public talks. Today, his written wisdom remains alive as ever, ready to illuminate us. James Finley, one of today’s best-known teachers of the Christian contemplative tradition, invites us into Eckhart’s insights in the same way that this luminary teacher delighted in sharing them—through the spoken word.
Our weeks are powerful opportunities for us to see the trends of our lives and find a broader perspective on what’s going well and what’s not. Based on these insights we are able to adjust our plans, schedules and routines to better accommodate our goals in the weeks ahead. Through this process we also get in touch with ourselves, and God, on a deeper level.
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