A Better Way To Pray-- The Old Way

The following is contained in the Michael Molloy textbook that I used for Religion 210 entitled Experiencing The World's Religions: Tradition, Challenge and Change.

Inspired by the biblical admonition to "pray always," [Luke 18:1] many forms of prayerful meditation have emerged in the long history of Christianity.

• In Russia, it became common to repeat some form of the Jesus Prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me." That was done hundreds of times a day, until the repetition became almost as automatic as breathing.
  
• In Greece, monks practiced sitting quietly, putting their heads forward, and guiding their consciousness to the center of their bodies, where they used their imaginations to experiences the inner light of God.
  
• In Europe of the Middle Ages, a form of walking meditation began to be done in labyrinths designed in the flooring of grand churches--such as we see at Chartres Cathedral in France. (This walking meditation is becoming increasingly popular today, and labyrinths may be found in many places--two are at grace Cathedral in San Francisco, and another is at St. Andrew's Cathedral in Honolulu).
  
• Beginning in Egypt and the Near East, monks would recite the psalms very slowly, then silently reflect afterwards on the most meaningful verses.

In recent years, one particular form of meditation has been popularized by two Trappist monks, Thomas Keating and M. Basil Pennington. They call it Centering Prayer, and they explain that it was already described in the 14th century classic The Cloud of Unknowing. "Contemplative prayer is the opening of the mind and heart, our whole being, to God, the Ultimate Mystery, beyond thoughts, words, emotions... Centering Prayer is another word for a kind of prayer that has been around from almost the time of the apostles. In other times it's been known as the prayer of silence, the prayer of faith, the prayer of simplicity, the prayer of simple regard, pure prayer." Keating and Pennington recommend that practitioners sit comfortably and quietly for twenty minutes, twice a day. they should choose a word from scripture to repeat internally, which will be the center of their meditation for one session--a word such as "love," "light," "peace," "wait," "taste," "child," "rebirth," "way," "wisdom." "One of the great advantages of Centering Prayer," says Keating, "is that it's like taking a vacation from the false self for twenty minutes twice a day. As the prayer continues in which we let go of thoughts for twenty minutes, we begin to experience a deep rest on the spiritual level..." The Centering prayer will normally be practiced by individuals, but may also be done in groups. (from a section entitled "Christian Meditation" taken from Experiencing The World's Religions: Tradition, Challenge, and Change (Third Edition) by Michael Molloy. pg 423).

I have a feeling in this Emergent Church society, I am a small minority of people who find this form of "Christian Meditation" unacceptable. It is just that. Unacceptable. Centering Prayer is not Christian. It has no scriptural foundation to it whatsoever. Do people think they can pull ideas of Hinduism (the notion of taking a vacation from the "false self" is a Hindu one) and just put a "Christian Spin" on it and expect it to be a viable and acceptable way to approach the throne of God? There is a right way and a wrong way to approach God.

Those proponents of this method of prayer would have us believe it is almost a better way to pray... that you can really meditate and experience God on a higher level than never before. My question is this-- If this Contemplative Prayer REALLY IS the best way to approach our Savior... why did Jesus not give us this method to pray by when he answered his disciples' request for a way to pray (Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4)? Are we to believe that God is sneaky when it comes to prayer? Prayer is ESSENTIAL for a good relationship with God. And God wants us to have a good relationship with Him. Therefore, we can gather from this that he does not want us to pray the wrong way-- he wants us to pray the best way. Jesus' model is the BEST way to pray... or is it really the ONLY way to pray? Probably... in Luke, Jesus doesn't say "Here is a cool idea for what to do when you pray..." nor does he say "If you'd like my opinion, here it is-- but feel free to borrow whatever junk you can from other religions as a good way to come to me." HECK NO!! Jesus said to them, "WHEN YOU PRAY, say..." Did you catch that? This is the method of prayer given to us by God himself. Why would he give us such a perfect guide to prayer if he didn't expect us to use it? Take a look at the format with me...

1. "Our Father in heaven..." This recognizes that God is a loving father and that he is not some earthly object-- but a being above man in heaven.
2. ..."hallowed be your name,..." This God is not just your homeboy... he's so much more. Another way to think of this is "You are Holy." He is Lord and he is Holy. Treat him as such.
3. "...your kingdom come..." We await for God's Kingdom to come as promised (but we are not establishing it here on Earth as kings of this world... no.
4. "your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.." God is in control of all things and his sovereign will is going to prevail. This does not mean you go through life and say "well God allowed us to sleep together-- so it must have been in his plan." No... it is not his plan for us, his children, to sin against him. No No NO. His will is above all though and his plan will be fulfilled. And no threat of nuclear war and/or this Global Warming crock will interfere with God.
5. "Give us today our daily bread." Reliance on God to meet our needs. We can do nothing without God. We rely on him to meet our needs. Does this mean we get everything we want if we are good little boys and girls?/ Nope. Job-- he did stuff right and it didn't stop the pain and suffering to come on him. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away... but still my heart will say "Blessed be the Name of the Lord." Yes... God knows your needs and requests... but he also knows we are prideful and want to fix everything ourselves... think we are in control. He wants us to be mature enough to release our troubles and needs to God. Trust me... he can take care of our needs FAR BETTER than we could ever DREAM.
6. "Forgive us our debts..." There are some who believe that when you become a Christian you are perfect. This is not true. No one will ever be sinless-- that is what makes grace by definition. We don't deserve it-- we can't! Daily we sin, and daily we ask forgiveness of sins. This does not mean we can look up porn in the morning, pray about it at noon, and then expect to have our slate clean by noon-thirty (12:30pm)! We have to repent-- not use "God will forgive me" as an excuse. If you love him, obey his commandments. The goal isn't to sin to earn more grace. It's to not sin at all! (Romans 6:1-4, 15-18)
7. "...as we also have forgiven our debtors." We are not to harbor bitterness in our hearts. I have a problem with this myself. But when you harbor stuff in your heart against someone else it only hurts you. The Newsboys song Let It Go really helps me out with this. God left his rights in heaven when he came down and humbled himself and died for man. Won't you be humble enough to leave yours?
8. "And lead us not into temptation..." Does God tempt us? No. But he does allow us to be tempted that we may grow. However we pray that we may grow without being tested greatly all the time.
9. "...but deliver us from the evil one." The battle is already won-- God's side wins, Satan's side fails miserably. We pray that Satan's strongholds do not take hold of us and that we may be in God's arms when temptation comes and not fall into that pit.

While I do not believe this prayer must be repeated word-for-word daily... I believe it is the model that should be followed. Don't just say it out of repetition. Don't just ignore it and give God your grocery list of what you want done today. God commands us to pray in this manner her gave us not some contemplative way and certainly not talking to dead people who can't hear us to go to God for us-- ala praying to Mary, Luke or any of the dead saints (There is but ONE mediator between God and Man-- Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 2:5)). He gave us this method found in Matthew and Luke. He commanded it. If you love him, obey his commandments (John 14:15).

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