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Read the articles online:

• Why pray? Growing in understanding and experience of prayer – Karl R. Landis
  
• Where do we pray? Praying on the Way – Sandy Landes
• Why build a prayer ministry? Providing a resource of hope – Randy Heacock
• Why contemplative prayer? A long, loving look at the real- Dawn Ruth Nelson
• Growth Events
• A diversity of languages: Calling out to God- John Tyson
• Toolbox
• Book Review

View/download the printable PDF

Karl R. Landis
Director of Leadership Development, Lancaster Mennonite Conference

Who among us would claim to be an expert on prayer? We might eventually master other elements of the Christian life, but does anyone ever fully master prayer? Thankfully we are not commanded to master prayer, even though many of us expect ourselves to work toward mastery of any responsibility we are given. We are, however, commanded to pray. We do not have to understand prayer fully to do it. And, as with many aspects of the Christian life, obedience releases greater understanding. Not complete understanding, but greater understanding.

Over the years, my diligence in prayer has risen and fallen. As a less urgent part of my schedule, my time in prayer has been squeezed by changes in family schedules, changes in work schedules, too much television and too many other commitments. And yet I have also grown in my understanding and experience of prayer. Here is some of what I have learned from my own experience and reflection and from listening to other believers reflect on their experiences.

Prayer brings us to the crossroads of the mystery of God and the mystery of human nature. When we pray, we are confronted with the contrast between our ability to achieve and accomplish amazing things and our inability to achieve or accomplish all that ought to be done or our inclination to use our abilities in wrong ways. We are confronted by our being created in the image of God along with the knowledge that God’s power and wisdom and creativity exceed our own to an almost infinite degree. We are confronted with the paradox of Almighty God’s goodness and grace wrestling with evil and darkness and with human free will. These confrontations take place and work themselves out in each of our souls, providing each of us with the opportunity to declare our allegiance, to choose whom we will serve and to thereby shape the kind of people we will become.

Effective prayer grows from regular rhythms of prayer. One of my clearest memories of studying Greek in seminary was the importance of regular (daily is ideal) repetition and review of what we were learning. After ten or twelve weeks, I was amazed at how much I had learned and how elementary the lessons of the first few weeks had become. I could rattle off by memory Greek words and forms that had initially seemed completely random. As I studied for the final exam, I realized that it would have been impossible to do this preparation by cramming all the memorization and practice into one week my brain simply could not have absorbed that much material and interconnectedness in a single dose. It worked much better to develop my understanding piece by piece over an extended period of time. Unfortunately, now that I no longer repeat and review what I learned, it has faded.

I see a lot of parallels to my prayer life in my study of Greek. When I have prayed in a focused way on a very regular or daily basis, I am usually much more aware of God’s activity around me and of his word. I am usually more peaceful about my circumstances and have a clearer idea of how to proceed. But when I have neglected to pray, I become restless, frustrated and more easily confused. I wonder why God seems so silent.

On the other hand, prayer does not follow a formula like the repetition of Greek grammar. Regular, focused prayer does not guarantee permanent or instant peace with God, although it does seem to make it more likely. All I know is that, just like trying to cram Greek the night before the final, trying to “cram prayer” in a moment of crisis is far less effective in building my relationship with God and cultivating an understanding of how God is providing for me.

Our daily choices shape us. A.W. Tozer said we are all as close to God as we want to be. C.S. Lewis once noted that our circumstances are mostly the accumulation of the thousands of small choices we make in our day-to-day lives. Maturity takes shape one interaction and one experience at a time. Making time for prayer on a regular (ideally daily) basis will shape our intimacy with God, our vocabulary and our imagination. Without prayer, we are likely to be and to feel overloaded, driven and perhaps anxious. With prayer, we may still be busy, but we will enjoy a calmer inner life that is centered on the truth and presence of God in our lives.

Regular prayer connects us to Sabbath rhythms. A daily rhythm of prayer teaches us on a smaller scale many of the same lessons we learn from a weekly day of rest. Both practices remind us of our dependence on God and of the limits of our own abilities. They highlight our hunger for distractions from God that come in many forms, including work, entertainment, possessions, and activities. Philip Yancey points out that Jesus’ recorded prayers were generally focused far more on aligning his will with God’s will than on changing his circumstances.

Maturity leads to greater dependence rather than greater independence. One of the paradoxes we face as Christians is that maturity seems to work backwards in the kingdom of God. In the natural order we see independence as an important part of maturity. A mature person is someone who has acquired enough knowledge, skill or experience to know how to proceed with minimal help from other people. The problem is that we will never acquire enough knowledge, skill or experience to proceed without God’s help and power. The depth of our maturity as Christians is directly linked to our awareness of this truth.

Christian peace comes in part from our willingness to relax into God’s care and provision rather than anxiously using or defending our own abilities and insights. Just like our cat settles in on my daughter’s lap, curling up her tail and closing her eyes, so we can settle in prayer into the providence of God, the lordship of Jesus Christ and the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.

Sandy Landes, Prayer Ministry coordinator, Franconia Mennonite Conference

Have you ever heard a person’s voice over the phone or on the radio and pictured what they look like, even if you have never met them? And then when you do meet them in person, you find out they don’t look the way you expected them to? I had that experience several times in the past year when I was praying for a person or situation. I guess I already had ideas in my mind put there by preconceived notions about what the need or answer was.

However when we actually meet someone, visit them in their home on their own “turf” or go to experience their culture first-hand, all of a sudden we have a new understanding of what the needs are and perhaps the answers.

Recently, I was challenged by Mark Fly, staff member of Spruce Lake to consider taking a prayer team down to Philadelphia to pray for Philadelphia Mennonite High School. I had not connected with the school in any way and had some ideas of what their prayer needs might be. But, visiting the school and praying with teachers, staff and students in their own building was a blessing I did not imagine beforehand. As Sue Hackman, prayer team member from Line Lexington Mennonite Church, and I spent time listening to stories of God’s faithfulness it increased our faith.

As we sat and felt the pain of students about family situations, we felt compassion for them and were inspired to pray and bring them before the throne of God. Walking the halls, hearing the buzz of classroom discussions and listening to God’s heart for this school brought our prayers to a different level. We now pray with greater understanding, be it very little, for a part of Christ’s body.

In that same vein, this past week, a group of intercessors from the Souderton area traveled to northern New Jersey for a monthly prayer gathering at Garden Chapel Mennonite Church. As we worshiped, listened to God and prayed together, God strengthened our bonds as our eyes were opened to the work God is doing in that community. Now this team of intercessors prays in a new way for Garden Chapel, a small church at the bottom of a hill surrounded by a busy community. Having actually spent time physically with the congregation gives us a new insight as we pray.

Jesus did not stay in one place, he traveled and met people where they were. Paul writes to the many people he met on his journeys, encouraging them because he knows their weaknesses and their strengths having spent time living and worshiping with them.

How can we take our prayer ministry to a new level? I would proprose that we need to “go” and pray. While there is power in prayer no matter where we are, praying onsite gives us new understanding and insight as we pray. Prayer-walking in your community gives a better look at the demographics, the needs, the strengths. Traveling to visit a missionary or church planter will help you to pray with pictures of the situation, the physical surroundings or needs. Going to visit someone in a hospital will help you to pray with compassion as you sense the pain and suffering they are feeling firsthand.

What if our prayer meetings took place somewhere other than church, in a restaurant, in the local park, in the neighborhood, in the public? Would it change the way we pray? Where are the places in your community and world where God is calling you to minister? What if we started praying there first and inviting God to give us a picture of what God wants to do?

My encouragement is to consider where and how we pray. Might God be calling us to put on our walking shoes and pray on the way?

Randy Heacock, randy.heacock@doylestownmc.org
Pastor, Doylestown Mennonite Church

When visiting an out of state relative, I would frequently be asked, “Do you want to go for a ride?” I soon discovered that while the destination of this ride was to get something, the purpose was to spend time together. I learned to look forward to saying yes to this opportunity. This is a bit how I feel about the prayer ministry at Doylestown Mennonite Church. Though the forms and environment may vary, the purpose to spend time in God’s presence, is always a blessing. For this reason, I find it easy to be supportive of and to say “yes” to the unfolding nature of our prayer ministry.

Like running errands with my relative, I have simply been along for the ride. The joy of our prayer ministry is that I take no credit for its vision or focus. Rather it has been my blessing to hear and see this vision take shape in and transform others. It began several years ago when I was released through a teaching by Noel Santiago to free up those called to pray. Therefore, my role has simply been to encourage, help navigate the administrative structures of the church, to learn and to be transformed. As I said to someone recently, prayer is not the only thing we can do, but the best.

It is these later experiences that have been most surprising and enjoyable in my journey. Being treated to articles, seminars and a greater variety of prayer experiences has nurtured and energized me significantly. The constant awareness that intercessors are praying during our entire worship service and hearing God’s words of affirmation, encouragement and challenge through others has been a tremendous blessing. Monday morning phone calls from members who are praying for me that week ground me in whose work it really is and what agenda to pursue.

On a personal level, my experience of worship has increased significantly. My ability to be engaged in worship on a regular basis has multiplied my joy in preaching. It has been challenging as well. I have been humbled to admit my need for confession, struggles that continue to entangle me and stressful relationships. There have also been some risks in trying new things prompted by prayer. One such area that I am still learning about is listening to God when awakened at 3 or 4 AM. Prayer has also laid a foundation on which to unite with other Christians in seeking God together.

In my years of ministry being supportive of the prayer ministry at Doylestown Mennonite Church is easily the wisest and most productive choice possible. The sense of God’s presence both individually and corporately has become more evident. People’s lives have been transformed both in being prayed for and in praying. Sometimes in our practical approach to life, we feel the need to fix broken relationships, financial struggles and crisis. Prayer both provides a resource of hope for the individual and can guide our actions in more meaningful ways than we first think.

I will close by listing a few practical suggestions by which a pastor can support a prayer ministry in any congregation.

* Discover who God is calling to this ministry.
* Encourage and equip them with the financial and the
facility space needed.
* Demonstrate a personal commitment to the prayer
ministry as a high priority.
* Be willing to learn and be led by those leading the
prayer ministry.
* Welcome the prayers of concern and prayers of
blessing on your behalf.

I encourage you to go along for the ride as you support the prayer ministry God desires for your congregation. God will truly bless every time you say “yes” and invest time, space and financial resources to this ministry.

Dawn Ruth Nelson, dp.ruthnelson@verizon.net
Pastor, Methacton Mennonite Church

Prayer is not just talking to and petitioning God. It’s also listening to and waiting on God. I spent many years living in a Catholic context trying to promote the peace of Christ in Ireland and my prayer was changed by that mission encounter. Among these Catholic Christians, there was just an assumption that deep service to God requires deep meditation and connection to God in prayer. Action was not the opposite of contemplation. Instead there was a deep joining of the two through contemplative prayer that was very intriguing and nurturing for me as a missionary.

Shortly after coming back to the United States, I remember being at a meeting where a hard decision had to be made and the leader suggested we spend some time in individual prayer. Immediately the room erupted into a noise so loud I wondered if God would be able to get a word in edgewise. It was jolting to move from one form of prayer that I’d been learning, back into a context where prayer was assumed to be about our words.

Contemplative prayer is prayer that is less word-oriented, less busy–it seems to me counter-cultural–in that regard, in our busy, noisy culture. This form of prayer is more like receiving from God, more like “waiting for God.” It can begin with slow meditative reading of small portions of the Bible. It needs silence and slowing down the pace of our lives, to notice what is around us. One person has called this form of prayer “a long loving look at the real.”

More recently, I have also been encountering the charismatic emphasis on prophecy, on “words from the Lord” and expectant, fervent prayer for healing and direction. In fact, my first experience of having a “prophetic word” spoken to me confirmed so clearly what I have heard from God in my contemplative prayer and in spiritual direction (and nowhere else), that I knew it had to be from God. It was clear it was the same Spirit guiding both forms of spirituality.

Richard Foster, author of Celebration of Discipline has written much about the various streams of spirituality in the church – he has identified six key streams. Foster believes these six are all necessary for a balanced life of faith, and that all six were practiced by Jesus. They are: the prayer-filled life (contemplative), the virtuous life (holiness), the spirit-empowered life (charismatic), the compassionate life (social justice), the Word-centered life (evangelical), and the sacramental life (incarnational). Perhaps recognizing that we need to live within all of these streams will unify our teaching and practice of prayer.

In the May 5, 1987
issue of the Gospel Herald a committee on Spirituality in the Mennonite Church also identified six streams influencing our church. These are slightly different from Foster’s but perhaps include some he did not include. They were: Anabaptist, evangelical, relational, charismatic, feminist and contemplative. Let’s begin to talk about how some of these have influenced us as people and as churches. The article concludes with seven basic understandings of Christian spirituality in a Mennonite mode, by which to determine the usefulness of the various streams of spirituality:

“1) Christian spirituality is rooted in God’s initiating grace through Jesus Christ and issues in new life. 2) Christian spirituality is nurtured in and realized in solitude, in the community of faith, and through life in the world. 3) Christian spirituality recognizes and confronts the reality of evil, both personal and corporate. 4) Christian spirituality as discipleship includes being in Christ (the relational) and following Christ (the ethical). 5) Christian spirituality is expressed uniquely in each person and faith community. 6) Christian spirituality is both costly and celebrative. 7) Christian spirituality is renewed through worship and in the hope of the fulfillment of God’s reign” (307, Gospel Herald, May 5, 1987).

In my encounter with the contemplative tradition and more recently, by attending Franconia Conference prayer intercessors meetings and hosting an Alpha course at our church (see www.alphausa.org), I have been exposed to many gifts and practices of the spirit with which I was not familiar – silence, spiritual direction, tongues, prophecy. But so far it is all producing the same fruits – a reliance on God and the Spirit of Jesus. If tensions arise because some people are more charismatic and others are more contemplative I have found it helpful to “test the spirits,” asking: Is the Spirit saying similar things or moving in similar directions through these different spiritualities? Is the Spirit I am encountering consistent with the Spirit of Jesus? Is it consistent with the biblical New Testament witness? If so, let’s rejoice instead of dividing into “camps” and let’s learn from each other! Let’s rejoice that through many voices and forms, God is still speaking to us today!