The Philosophy of God: A Disciple's Sojourn: Prayer

What is prayer?

Prayer can be thought of as communication with God, as communication between you and God. You can actually communicate with God more easily than you can with people and the benefits of communicating with God are much greater:

God understands you completely. God understands all of the deep, complex emotions within you. You do not need to explain to Him how you feel because he knows, He feels with you; but you can, of course, if it makes you feel better.

When we communicate our emotions with God we often understand them better. God gives us the wisdom to understand our problems, the strength to fix our problems and the support needed for us to remain focused on fixing them. Through sharing with Him how and what we feel, He gives us the ability to understand our pain or joy from new and more in-depth perspectives. When we understand our own emotions better, we are more in control of ourselves and therefore our lives.

You do not actually have to talk. You can think. When you think, ponder, examine a situation or an emotion, bring God into it as a consultant. If your heart and soul desires to know a truth or to find a courage, God helps your mind work to achieve that. You can pray throughout the day; every action or word that comes from you can be said or done with a silent but persistent request for Him to be with you.

You do not have to know anything special or particular. You do not have to be, or feel like, anything special or particular. You are special and you are particular to God. Your concerns immediately garner His compassion.

He's always home. He always has service. He's never too busy. He's never too tired. God will not ever give you any excuses. He is always there to listen and to think alongside you. When you want to talk to Him, He's there and He's ready. If you have 10 seconds to think of Him, to think with Him, you have prayed. If you have 2 minutes, or an hour, or 15 minutes... all the time you spend with Him helps you. Keep Him in your thoughts, I promise you, He seems quiet but when you really listen, you will find that He is vibrant and strong in giving messages.

He has your best interests in mind. You are His concern. He puts you before Himself. You are the most valuable thing alive to Him, that is how much love He has for each of us. When you are talking to Him, you don't have to worry that He's misinterpreting your problem or your fear or concern (or your happiness, He understands that too and loves when you share your happiness with Him).

God is not distracted by anything when He is with you. He isn't grumpy because of a bad day or long day. He is not distracted by an ulterior motive. His motive, His only, most focused motive is helping you to stand back up. Or to continue to stand firmly.

He isn't mad at you because you made a mistake. He invented forgiveness. He invented empathy and He invented understanding. He invented those things so that we could forgive ourselves and so that we could find empathy for others. He knows we mess up sometimes and He's not mad. He wants to help you so you don't have to mess up again.

It's a safe place to explore your insecurities and shortcomings. We are fallible. We make mistakes. His hope is that through our experiences we learn and subsequently grow. Prayer is a perfect environment to reflect, to review our behavior and thoughts and expressions and to examine them. When we analyze ourselves and our lives, we come to understand ourselves better but also the elements and conditions of life. We learn how to more purposefully navigate life.

Intercessory Prayer

Intercessory prayer is generous and effective! In Genesis 18, Abraham intercedes for the people he cares about. God listens and answers. Intercessory prayer receives its power from being produced by a compassionate and selfless place. It is especially great to pray for people who may not necessarily be praying for themselves. Therefore we should do it for others! But we need not rely on it for ourselves. Day-to-day, moment-by-moment inner dialog with God throughout your life is powerfully productive. You do not need anyone to pray for you. Your voice is the voice that God wants to hear; your voice is the voice that activates God's compassion over your life.

The Practice of Prayer

When you pray for something, if your request is kind and patient, God will give you the means to obtain it, not necessarily that thing itself (if and only if it is in your best interest to have it). Many people decide that prayer is ineffective because they expect to be given the specific object or opportunity they pray for. God is more creative than that, He answers your prayer by providing you the tools and materials to work with to gain that object or opportunity for yourself. Pray instead for the traits which can help you to help yourself instead of for easy solutions - you won't appreciate what you get if it is given too easily to you. You have to work for something to understand its value.

Thank Him, remember to do that if you get what you asked for. You do not want to use God; you do not want that kind of weak and pathetic relationship with Him. Do not forget Him when life is going well and then schlep back to His doorstep when you are needy again. Celebrate good with Him too. Remember to thank Him even if you don't get what you prayed for, trust He correctly determined that it wasn't what was best for you.

Allow Him to teach you. Seasons of learning are not cruel tests, they are meant to make you wiser, strong and more capable. Do you get angry or frustrated with Him when you don't get what you want or think you deserve? Don't be a petulant child who whines or wavers in love when you don't feel like you get what you want. Do you give up so easily? Do not become so arrogant as to assume that you know the answers. God knows what you need better than you do, Romans 8:26 and Matthew 6:8. Therefore, if you do not have something, He knows that it would not be good for you, or that you are not ready for it. Or perhaps that it is not ready for you. When we answers a prayer and delivers a blessing, He intents for you to keep it. Therefore you need to be prepared for the responsibility that will come with it.

Be vigilant. God works through subtlety. Perhaps you did not immediately get the job you wanted but maybe you got the courage to apply for it, the passion to study intensely to become qualified for it... perhaps your rejection from that job led you to another, better position.

Maybe you want to be healed of something - but has your setback brought you patience, does it have a lesson in it for you to learn that will help you cope and survive in the future? Surviving your tribulations can inspire others to survive their own. Insurmountable strife is often a direct result of not trusting God to lead you out of it.

God doesn't punish you, but he allows you to choose another way. Any other way separate from His will not protect you, will instead leave you vulnerable to the difficulties of life (which can be confused as punishment). Your circumstances are not a punishment but a display of the repercussions of your choice to go a wayward way. Simple cause and effect!

Put others before yourself in prayer. What you do for others is given to you: Matthew 6:14. Prayer is a time for introspection, for conversing with God about whatever you want... but try not to make it a long lament about yourself without even trying to rise out of struggle. Everyone, everywhere faces tribulation, remember them, include them in your wishes for betterment but also help God do the work (for yourself and for others)

Consider what you are asking for: is it a material thing, unworthy of His attention? So many of us are only satisfied until we become accustomed to what fortune we do have... then we want more, better, faster, bigger, longer, taller...endless desire! Even if it is something truly important, the health of a family member perhaps, trust that He will make the best decision for that person's course of life (if you are sincerely asking for it and purchasing it on their behalf with your own actions) trust that they are safe in His hands.

Include a thank you for guidance that may not be apparent to you. Sometimes it is the thing that does not happen to us that is really a special gift, but we forget to be thankful for it because it is an oversight of ours. God helps us to dodge bullets only He can see. (Maybe forgetting your bag at home really DID keep you from a disaster!)

If my gratitude toward God were a tree, what would represent the roots which made it so strong, the branches which made it so wide? I came up with this list of specific things which help me maintain peace within myself and with others. It's a double-sided prayer because without giving and expressing each of these things for others (family, friends, adversaries, strangers, pets, acquaintances) I tend not to receive them for myself. (Example: If I am particularly impatient with something, patience is not especially gifted to me. It isn't punishment, it is just a natural, instructive balance. Good work yields good results.)

Patience: Letting go of anxiety; being present in the current moment by moment

Forgiveness: Being magnanimous in allowing error in others leaves room for them to grow and change

Guidance: I am not omniscient, I cannot see the road ahead, I ask God to be my headlights

Friendship: Each social relationship is a component of life, a learning lesson, a pillar of support and spark of opportunity

Hope: Without it, we lose everything. Gripping onto the rope of hope even if it's a difficult task keeps us out of the murk of desolation, disappointment and pain

Faith: Faith takes work, it slips away if taken for granted and life gets confusing without it. Every moment spent with God in prayer and scripture tightens the knot of our connection with Him. Each moment away loosens it.

Love: Loving others is our greatest purpose, devoting ourselves to giving it is healing, rejuvenating and purposeful

Opportunity: The chance and flexibility for change reignites passion for life, activates new purposes

Expression: A medium through which to express yourself: a canvas, an instrument, a friendship, a dance floor, a microphone, a teacher's students in a classroom, a healer's patients in a waiting room, there are so many ways to express ourselves! Create for clarity, expression deepens the color in our lives.

Passion: Without it life would be rather dull! Passion for reading, skiing, knowledge, earth, life, justice; whatever animates you, do it passionately.

Humility: We do not ever want to be under the delusion that we are especially clever or wise. We are forever a students of an ancient master, wisdom itself. Be eternally open and eager to learn, interpret and perceive new things.

Perseverance: We do not want discouragement to distract us from all of the beautiful things about life which out-weight it, there is self-worth and triumph in surviving something you thought you could not.

Strength: It may seem easier to succumb to weakness than to rise against a monster, but monsters need to be challenged or they grow in strength by stealing yours! And a life of weakness is not easy at all.

Courage: The ability to stand against evil and injustice for the sake of another even though it's scary (the only time you can even have courage is when you're scared right?) Being scared isn't weakness but doing nothing when something needs to be done is.

Direction: Do not allow yourself to wander through life aimlessly. Want to be an instrument of God's, to accomplish something for Him, to everyday be on a clear and focused path.

God's Will (in past, present, and future): Let your life run on God's track, it is the only one you can trust has your best interest at heart. Realize that He has saved in the past, saves in the here and now and will continue to protect as the future unfolds. Ask God to guide you in your future according to His will not your own agenda.

Happiness: It is so disheartening to see a person wasting life on being angry all of the time. It's a toxic lifestyle to fight against; maybe the world does have a lot of disparity but I know for sure that it has a lot of beauty, miracle and life and therefore I know that there is always a reason for happiness.

Health: Keeping the body clean helps to keep the mind clean and viable. Our bodies are mini but complex universes and we should respect them as such, worthy of being cared for and nourished in the cultivation of our optimal performance. Our bodies are the precious vessels which house our souls. And as children of God, our souls house the temple of God, 1 Corinthians 6:19. Moreover, what incredible things these bodies are capable of when we respect them!

Safety: Millions live in violent countries and neighborhoods, try never to take for granted your freedom to live, express, or learn without having to fight and struggle for it. Pray for the safety of those you care about, because if you are safe but they are not, then your safety becomes moot and provides almost no comfort at all.

Warmth: Homeostasis! But also in the metaphorical sense: that we may approach life and that life will approach us with warmth, as a friend, as a welcome, as a home, as a comfort.

Strength of Mind: The ability to procure, retrain and interpret knowledge for knowledge is freedom from many things.

Peace of Mind: An angry, depressed or conflicted mind is distracting, halting, noxious. Pray for the ability to not be entangled by the anxieties of life so that you can have the clear and focused mind to help solve them.

Control of Mind: To never be controlled. Pray that we maintain the right and ability to make our own decisions, always, without the permission of another. God has given us all free and private thought; Pray that your mind is lucid and able.

Wisdom: Wisdom is logic with experience and reason, the greatest type of learning there is. God has all Wisdom, He is Wisdom, Keep Him near. This is a complex earth, populated by a complex species and complex systems, pray for the perception to understand it as best as is possible.

Discernment: Being alert and wise enough to distinguish truth from lies! Understanding the subtle metaphors life and scripture teach us how to determine what (or who) is real and what is fake.

A few others:

Laughter, Shelter, Joy, Hope, Perspective, Perception, Sense of Humor, Scripture, Inspiration, Motivation, Determination, Creativity, Endurance, Friendship, Kindness, God's Presence + Protection + Power and Planning in the midst and periphery of our lives.

And finally, of course, Matthew 6:9-13 instructs us on words to always include in our prayers. I have analyzed them in the Matthew Chapter 6 study!