Crosswalk - Grow in Faith with Daily Christian Living Articles

Part Seven

PRAY

Prayer is a word that describes a relationship. Disciplines of prayer provide patterns for attending to God throughout the day. They open us to the divine dialogue through intentional encounter with the Trinity. The P disciplines open our gaze and hearing to God. In his book The Way of the Heart, Henri Nouwen quotes Theophan the Recluse: “To pray is to descend with the mind into the heart, and there stand before the face of the Lord, ever-present, all seeing, within you.” Prayer is sustained less by duty than by a desire to connect and grow in intimacy and communion with the holy Three. But prayer also moves us up and out into our world. In Love in a Fearful Land, Nouwen also writes, “Prayer is the way to both the heart of God and the heart of the world—precisely because they have been joined through the suffering of Jesus Christ. . . . Praying is letting one’s own heart become the place where the tears of God’s children merge and become tears of hope.”

The P disciplines provide a number of ways of entering into prayer. Often the exercises invite you to sit comfortably in a chair and become present to God. Though the posture of sitting for prayer is not necessarily rooted in biblical examples, it is the posture most of us in Western culture assume in order to concentrate on something or someone. Posture is an important part of prayer. The ancient Jews believed that prayer began with an intentional awareness of God’s presence: know “before whom you are standing” (Berakhot 28b). The inward posture of the heart preceded all outward postures for prayer. If you wish to explore or substitute one of the many biblical postures of prayer, please feel free to do so (see “Postures for Prayer,” appendix 7).

“Think often on God, by day, by night, in your business and even in your diversions. He is always near you and with you; leave him not alone.” —Brother Lawrence

Breath Prayer

DESIRE	to pray a simple, intimate prayer of heartfelt desire before God
DEFINITION	Breath prayer is a form of contemplative prayer linked to the rhythms of breathing: (1) breathe in, calling on a biblical name or image of God, and (2) breathe out a simple God-given desire.
SCRIPTURE	“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness. . . . [H]e has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” (2 Peter 1:3-4)
PRACTICE INCLUDES	repeating a simple one-sentence prayer that begins with a biblical name of God that is meaningful to you; follow the name with a word or phrase expressing your deep God-given desire; connect the prayer to your breathing and return to it throughout the day until it becomes a soul reflex saying a traditionally scriptural breath prayer known as the “Jesus Prayer”: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me, a sinner”; breath prayers include phrases of Scripture: for example, “My soul glorifies the Lord” (Luke 1:46), “My souls finds rest in God alone” (Psalm 62:1); breath prayers can be short prayers of love and desire, for example, “Shepherd, lead me by still waters,” or “Come, Holy Spirit, come.”
GOD-GIVEN FRUIT	keeping company with Jesus whether or not you feel his presence abiding in Christ, opening yourself to constant union all day long putting into a phrase the deepest desire of your heart and praying out of that desire reminding yourself that God is present and living in you guarding self-talk so your thoughts, feelings and behavior flow from an ongoing dialogue with God regulating your imagination and fantasy life breathing in the life of Christ and breathing out the work of Christ developing a rhythm of turning to God at any time of the day developing a constant, inner, unbroken, perpetual habit of prayer

Part 7: Pray

Breath Prayer