deepening
::: here's an excerpt below on prayer from an interview with with henri nouwen and richard foster entitled, "deepening our conversation with God"...
How do you look at prayer?
Nouwen: Prayer is first of all listening to God. It's openness. God is always speaking; he's always doing something. Prayer is to enter into that activity.
Take this room. Imagine you've never been out of it. Prayer is like going outside to see what's really there. Prayer in its most basic sense is just entering into an attitude of saying, "Lord, what are you saying to me?"
Foster: The problem with describing prayer as speaking to God is that it implies we are still in control. But in listening, we let go. People are tired of hearing about "Ten Steps that Will Change Your Life."
The spiritual life is not something we add onto an already busy life. What we are talking about is to impregnate and infiltrate and control what we already do with an attitude of service to God.
For pastors, this might mean silent prayer in their board meetings. One of the greatest revelations to me was to experiment with being in communion with God in board meetings. I learned I didn't always have to speak and control and that I could pray for people in the room who had a heaviness with life.
I also think it's very important what we think about in the evening before we go to sleep, and in the morning as we wake up. So many of us allow the late news to dictate what we think about when we go to bed.
What's involved in centering your thoughts on God?
Foster: My boys and I built a basketball standard by our driveway. I go out alone at ten at night and shoot baskets. It's a time to pray. As I shoot baskets, I invite God to remind me of my day. Are there things that need to be confessed? Was I curt to my secretary? Do I need to set something straight?
In the morning I've been experimenting with prayer during that period of just starting to wake up. You aren't fully conscious, but you aren't fully asleep; during that in-between period I try to surrender my day to God.
Nouwen: People who live a spiritual life become sensitive to their surroundings. Notice their houses; they are uncluttered. Your physical place becomes more spacious when your life is lived spiritually. The idea of going on a retreat for prayer is crucial, but we also need to pray daily. It's not only important to set aside time to pray, but also a place to pray. I have a special place where I spend a predetermined amount of time. The only reason to be there is to pray. After the time is up, I can say, "Lord, this was my prayer, even if my mind was full of confusion."
Foster: To increase the spiritual atmosphere of our home, we don't answer the telephone when we are eating or if I'm reading stories to the children, because I want my boys to know they are more important than the telephone.
Nouwen: The obvious assumption of always answering the phone is that the person on the phone has something more important to say than what you are saying—which is not true. The same applies to the television. My mother always said, "I don't understand why you tolerate this stranger to talk in the middle of my room. We didn't invite him. Turn him off."
Foster: Another suggestion for discipline is to tell people not only when a meeting starts, but when it ends. I don't mean only business meetings, but social meetings too. I always invite students from eight to ten in the evening. At ten I say, "Let's close with prayer."
Nouwen: Prayer involves the body. It can be done in many different postures. You can stand, kneel, lie flat, hold hands, lie in bed, or sit in a chair. Sometimes your mind is too tired to concentrate in the right way, and your body position can get you in the proper frame of mind.
What about the content of prayer?
Nouwen: Too many Christians think prayer means to have spiritual thoughts. That's not it. Prayer means to bring into the presence of God all that you are. You can say, "God, I hate this guy, I can't stand him." The prayer life of most people is too selective. They usually present only those things to God they want him to know or think he can handle. But God can handle everything.
Foster: Not long ago, a lady said to me, "I can't pray for more than two minutes at a time. What can I do?"
When people say that, I reply, "What have you been thinking or worrying about this last week? Pray about that."
Nouwen: Convert your thoughts into prayer. As we are involved in unceasing thinking, so we are called to unceasing prayer. The difference is not that prayer is thinking about other things, but that prayer is thinking in dialogue. It is a move from self-centered monologue to a conversation with God.
[source: Leadership, Winter 1997, Vol. XVIII, No. 1, Page 112
Copyright © 1997 by Christianity Today International/Leadership Journal]
___
How do you look at prayer?
Nouwen: Prayer is first of all listening to God. It's openness. God is always speaking; he's always doing something. Prayer is to enter into that activity.
Take this room. Imagine you've never been out of it. Prayer is like going outside to see what's really there. Prayer in its most basic sense is just entering into an attitude of saying, "Lord, what are you saying to me?"
Foster: The problem with describing prayer as speaking to God is that it implies we are still in control. But in listening, we let go. People are tired of hearing about "Ten Steps that Will Change Your Life."
The spiritual life is not something we add onto an already busy life. What we are talking about is to impregnate and infiltrate and control what we already do with an attitude of service to God.
For pastors, this might mean silent prayer in their board meetings. One of the greatest revelations to me was to experiment with being in communion with God in board meetings. I learned I didn't always have to speak and control and that I could pray for people in the room who had a heaviness with life.
I also think it's very important what we think about in the evening before we go to sleep, and in the morning as we wake up. So many of us allow the late news to dictate what we think about when we go to bed.
What's involved in centering your thoughts on God?
Foster: My boys and I built a basketball standard by our driveway. I go out alone at ten at night and shoot baskets. It's a time to pray. As I shoot baskets, I invite God to remind me of my day. Are there things that need to be confessed? Was I curt to my secretary? Do I need to set something straight?
In the morning I've been experimenting with prayer during that period of just starting to wake up. You aren't fully conscious, but you aren't fully asleep; during that in-between period I try to surrender my day to God.
Nouwen: People who live a spiritual life become sensitive to their surroundings. Notice their houses; they are uncluttered. Your physical place becomes more spacious when your life is lived spiritually. The idea of going on a retreat for prayer is crucial, but we also need to pray daily. It's not only important to set aside time to pray, but also a place to pray. I have a special place where I spend a predetermined amount of time. The only reason to be there is to pray. After the time is up, I can say, "Lord, this was my prayer, even if my mind was full of confusion."
Foster: To increase the spiritual atmosphere of our home, we don't answer the telephone when we are eating or if I'm reading stories to the children, because I want my boys to know they are more important than the telephone.
Nouwen: The obvious assumption of always answering the phone is that the person on the phone has something more important to say than what you are saying—which is not true. The same applies to the television. My mother always said, "I don't understand why you tolerate this stranger to talk in the middle of my room. We didn't invite him. Turn him off."
Foster: Another suggestion for discipline is to tell people not only when a meeting starts, but when it ends. I don't mean only business meetings, but social meetings too. I always invite students from eight to ten in the evening. At ten I say, "Let's close with prayer."
Nouwen: Prayer involves the body. It can be done in many different postures. You can stand, kneel, lie flat, hold hands, lie in bed, or sit in a chair. Sometimes your mind is too tired to concentrate in the right way, and your body position can get you in the proper frame of mind.
What about the content of prayer?
Nouwen: Too many Christians think prayer means to have spiritual thoughts. That's not it. Prayer means to bring into the presence of God all that you are. You can say, "God, I hate this guy, I can't stand him." The prayer life of most people is too selective. They usually present only those things to God they want him to know or think he can handle. But God can handle everything.
Foster: Not long ago, a lady said to me, "I can't pray for more than two minutes at a time. What can I do?"
When people say that, I reply, "What have you been thinking or worrying about this last week? Pray about that."
Nouwen: Convert your thoughts into prayer. As we are involved in unceasing thinking, so we are called to unceasing prayer. The difference is not that prayer is thinking about other things, but that prayer is thinking in dialogue. It is a move from self-centered monologue to a conversation with God.
How is love best communicated?
Nouwen: I remember a student whose father was never able to express affection to him. The boy decided to become a minister and came to divinity school. I was one of his teachers. Even though others think I'm a good teacher, he told me, "I never enjoyed anything you were saying. I came to class, and I left it."
I tried to be interesting, but he couldn't hear an adult male tell him anything because it reminded him of his father.
Once when he was feeling sick, I was biking around one evening and suddenly realized I was near where he lived. I decided to drop in. I said, "I've been thinking about you today. Are you feeling better?"
He said, "You came to see me? You thought of me?"
Foster: One day I had a strong feeling to call a parishioner who is a college chaplain. I said, "John, I didn't call you to ask you to do anything. I just wanted to say 'Hi."
On the other end, there was a deep sigh of relief. He said, "I'm so glad you called." Then he began to share a deep inner need. One of the greatest expressions of love is simply to notice people and to pay attention to them.
[source: Leadership, Winter 1997, Vol. XVIII, No. 1, Page 112
Copyright © 1997 by Christianity Today International/Leadership Journal]
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