Prayer: Week 4

Philip Yancey wrote this in his recently published book, Prayer:

“Jesus valued prayer enough to spend many hours at the task. If I had to answer the question ‘Why pray?’ in one sentence, it would be ‘Because Jesus did.’ He bridged the chasm between God and human beings. While on earth, he became vulnerable as we are vulnerable; rejected as we are rejected; and tested as we are tested. In every case his response was prayer.”

We talked earlier about prayer as spiritual gymnastics.

“Jesus spent hours in prayer?” I might ask. “But, I’m not Jesus.” Prayer as spiritual gymnastics is discouraging. That is, of course, only if I’m right about the idea that I should always and in every circumstance log prayers like runners log miles. I’m probably not right.

Yancey, a couple of pages later, quotes Abraham Joshua Heschel:

“Contact with Him is not our achievement. It is a gift, coming down to us from on high like a meteor, rather than rising up like a rocket. Before the words of prayer come to the lips, the mind must believe in God’s willingness to draw near to us, and in our ability to clear the path for His approach. Such belief is the idea that leads us toward prayer.”

This week: I will try to remember that I should pray because Jesus prayed. I should also remember that “contact with Him is a gift” and that my role is “clearing the path for His approach.” In other words, I’m striving for a less performance oriented approach towards prayer this week.