On Saturday we had our first Lent Prayer Breakfast. We were considering why, in this world, there is suffering. As always, there were plenty of interesting contributions from the floor. One in particular struck me and got me reflecting on the nature of prayer.
Ivy – not her name – told of how, when she was very ill, a friend had visited her. Seeing that she was not at all well, the friend commented that Ivy had obviously not prayed hard enough. “Is prayer a workout?”, I thought.
How do we see prayer? As a transaction in which we present God with an agenda of items and he deals with them? After all, Jesus said, “Ask and you shall receive.” Perhaps we do receive, but maybe we don’t receive what we expect, in the form we expect it.
Jesus’ guidance on prayer is interesting. He dismisses showy forms of prayer. He tells us to go into our inner room, close the door and pray in the presence of the Father, that ever-present “ground of our being”. He’s telling us to ‘go inside’, to connect with ourselves and to connect with God. Prayer is connection. And when we connect we listen and we become open to possibilities.
In the film Evan Almighty, the character who plays God says: “Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prays for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prays for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?”
Chris Dawson