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Prayer Can Be the Most Revolutionary of Acts
Yes, I pray. But there are many misunderstandings about prayer. For many, prayer is talking to God, sometimes with a great list of requests and needs—sort of like children’s Christmas lists mailed to Santa Claus.
But, at least for me, prayer is more often becoming a time of listening than talking. There is so much noise in our world and our lives (much of our own making); prayer becomes a quiet space enabling us to stop talking long enough to see what God might be trying to say to us. The disciplines of prayer, silence, and contemplation practices by the monastics and mystics are precisely that—stopping the noise, slowing down, becoming still; so that God can break through all our activity and noise, in order to speak to us. Prayer serves to put all the parts of our lives in God’s presence, reminding us of how holy our humanity really is.
And also for us, prayer is the act of reclaiming our identity as the children of God; it declares who we are and to whom we belong. The action of prayer places us outside the realm of the powers and principalities. As prayer declares our true identity, it destroys our false identities. In prayer we act upon who we really are, and thus prayer has the effect of diminishing the illusions that have controlled us, and remembering what is really true. Prayer allows us to step out of our traps and find ourselves again in God.
Contemplative writer and priest, Henri Nouwen, once shared with our Sojourners community how the desert fathers regarded prayer as an act of "unhooking" from the harness of the world's securities. Such prayer may be the only action powerful enough to free us from our spiritual bondage to property, money, power, ideas, and causes, which often control our behavior.
Only those who have truly found their identity in God can resist the violent tugs and pulls of the false values offered by the world. By re-establishing our security in God, prayer becomes an effective weapon in resisting the world’s false securities.
Prayer changes our frame of reference; it is not merely a preparation for action. Prayer must be understood as an action in itself, a potent political weapon to be used in spiritual warfare against the most powerful forces of the world. Prayer is not undertaken in place of other actions; it is the foundation for all the other actions we take.
I recall the way Archbishop Desmond Tutu would pray in South Africa, during the apartheid era. His prayers constantly affirmed God’s power over the claims of the state, and that was a threat to their power. And prayer, in recognizing God's authority over the evil powers, moves us beyond opposition to affirmation, beyond resistance to celebration. Thus prayer and the results of prayer can be the most revolutionary of acts. The powers that be in this world are aware of this; that is why they consider those who pray in this way to be a threat.
By
Jim Wallis
|
February 6, 2007; 9:10 AM ET
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Posted by: xvacwjygh loarm | March 2, 2007 8:59 AM
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Posted by: lwaps cenya | March 2, 2007 8:59 AM
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Posted by: lbwka bytjx | March 2, 2007 8:58 AM
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Posted by: zschut laiwsg | March 2, 2007 8:56 AM
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If I may now get out of Jail for being trapped in human limitation form....Prayer is conversation, daily relation, revelation to your conscience mind. God already knows your mind. PRAYER IS FOR YOU PEOPLE. BGONE demon.
Posted by: Hard_NOx | February 7, 2007 7:42 AM
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Scratch "great list of requests and needs - Genesis 3:19 "You will eat your bread by the sweat of your brow" doesn't leave much room for requests and needs being filled by THAT God.
Is the Bible the source of your knowledge of God and what God wants? It, the Bible is a proved hoax. You need a new source.
Now there is Devil, http://www.hoax-buster.org/sellyoursoul who delivers the treasure of earth to those who lead the multitudes to hell, according to the sacred scriptures. The Bible seems to be the word of Devil and not God at all.
How can we know that you know what God wants? You are an expert? Where does all your knowledge come from? You're a scholar at what, a hoax? Do you have a license? Learing and believing lies makes one more ignorant that before going to school.
Posted by: BGone | February 6, 2007 5:40 PM
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Beautifully written with great insights. Thank you Jim.
Posted by: Dustin Nephi Slade | February 6, 2007 4:34 PM
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Honestly, it seems like the link to the On Faith section of this website only gets clicked on by 2 types of people:
1. Current Christians
2. Those who only click on the link with the sole purpose of attacking Christians.
Every... single... faith... entry... descends into this war of words. Does anybody else feel this way or am I just taking crazy pills? It seems that almost no one comes here in search of a sincere search for truth through civil dialogue, but merely to take shots and drop off their pre-established and unchangeable judgments on Christians and God.
At the risk of sounding judgmental myself, if you look back and read the comments of these faith blogs, the majority of posts that are full of loathing, contempt, condescending tone, and general mockery are written by the self-proclaimed rational and reason-based followers of science. It's just baffling and frustrating.
These blogs could be such a great place to start fruitful and sincere discussions between faiths and sciences but it's just a testament to one aspect of our flawed human nature: the tendency to destroy something meant for good due to lack of self-control.
Despite that, keep up the good fight and run the good race Faith Bloggers. Don't let them silence your voice.
Posted by: Alex | February 6, 2007 3:54 PM
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Prof. Svakof:
You obviously didn't read Jim's post. The study that says prayer doesn't work assumes that the point of prayer is to ask God for specific outcomes on particular events -- for God to fulfill a Santa-like wish list. But Jim said at the outset that that's not his idea of what prayer is. Therefore, he is not an apologist for scientifically proven ideas; rather, he's saying something that you didn't expect and apparently can't fathom, even after reading it.
Miggs
Posted by: Miggsathon | February 6, 2007 2:21 PM
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So, I guess you missed that scientific study that disproved the "healing powers" of prayer?
I guess there are enough apologists to discredit that completely credible study.
Posted by: Prof. Svakof | February 6, 2007 1:50 PM
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yes,i pray.and i say again,Lord teach us to pray.amen.
Posted by: adegboyega a taiwo | February 6, 2007 12:53 PM
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