Prayer as a Conversation
Contents
There is a work called "Dialogue" by Algerian sculptor Amara. Monhand in the outdoor sculpture exhibition at Olympic Park. The content of the work is an image of two people with upper body made of stone. These two statues appear to be listening to each other. The author's commentary on the work is as follows. "These two seem to be enriching their knowledge of each other, caring for each other, and trying to have a meaningful conversation. By doing this, humans exist by relying on and interacting with each other, and they Because I believe that I can realize and transcend.”
As the artist says, human beings can exist, realize their self, and transcend themselves by relying on each other and interacting with each other. However, in order to make this life possible, another dimension of life of dialogue is needed. That is a conversation with God. Dialogue with God raises the value of each other, removes barriers between humans, and makes us accept each other. This conversation with God is prayer.
Prayer is not exclusive to Christians. All religions have prayers. However, there is a marked difference in the form, motive, and content of prayer.
There was also prayer in ancient primitive religions. But prayer in primitive religions was almost entirely egocentric. In primitive religions, the prayers of prayer were primarily for the prosperity or protection of themselves or their people. And the motive for prayer was self-interest and fear fear. Primitive people believed that their destiny was governed by some mysterious power, so they prayed to undo that power and to be rescued from misery and danger.
After that, with the development of civilization, the form of prayer also changed. The prayers of this time were mainly prayers with some certain religious ceremony. In these ceremonial prayers, prayers were written in a certain format. A typical ceremonial prayer here was the sacrifice. This sacrifice was a very important element in religious life. However, the content of the prayer was for the blessing of reality, which is no different from the original prayer.
In the Christian faith, prayer is not a spell or a monologue, but a conversation with God. Conversation is only possible between personal objects. God is one person. He wants to meet us and talk to us. In dialogue with God, God is both the subject and object of the dialogue. Our relationship with God, the object, is not between 'I and it', but between 'I and you'.
For God to be the subject and object of the conversation, it means that the motive and ground of the conversation is in God, and that he is the partner of the conversation.
John Knox said, "Prayer is a sincere, intimate conversation with God." John Calvin said, "Prayer is an intimate communion between God and the godly." Meanwhile, Donald Bull sch said, "Prayer is more concrete than fellowship or unity, which is a mutual communication between the Creator and the creature."
If meditation is fellowship with God without words, prayer is fellowship with God who has words. Samuel's mother, Hannah, was praying only in her heart, so she moved only her lips and did not hear any sound (1 Samuel 1-13). Although he prayed silently, it was a spoken prayer. Interposition of words means that the will and intentions of both parties are interposed in the relationship between 'I and you'. The Apostle Paul said, "I myself will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the reason." Praying with reason means that it is prayer as a spoken conversation, which includes will and will.
A genuine conversation always entails questioning it. As Ellul said, "Dialogue involves evangelism, tension, contradiction, and objection." Conversations with God also entail this question. This is not because of God's imperfection. Because of our imperfection, ignorance, and folly. God treats us as promised partners, not as mindless and blind robots. So we don't want to babble without knowing what it means. He wants us to know clearly what it means to pray.
We can clearly see what prayer is like as a dialogue in Jeremiah's prayer.
“Lord, whenever I argue with you,
The Lord has always been right.
therefore to the Lord
I would like to ask you one issue of fairness.
Why do the wicked prosper?
Do all the traitors prosper?" (Jeremiah 12:1 New Standard Version)
In this prayer, Jeremiah raises an objection to God. The question Jeremiah raises is why the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer. Eventually you go later and admit that God is right. And obey God's will.
Conversation with God begins with listening to and trying to hear the Word of God in relation to the real problems of our own lives. Therefore, we must wait patiently. It is not enough for God to speak to us. He gives us the ability to hear and understand.
God said to Ezekiel:
“Son of man, stand up, I have something to tell you.
As he spoke these words to me, a spirit entered me and lifted me up. I kept listening to what he was saying to me.” (Ezekiel 2:1-2)
Our qualifications as communicators with God are because God has called us to be partners in His covenant as He fulfilled His purpose in this world. But we are not equal to him. God is always our senior companion. And he is our master. As the owner, he treats us as friends. Even when God spoke to Moses, He spoke as a friend. (Ex 3:6)
We must prepare ourselves to approach the throne where God is present in order to have a conversation with God. It is not our actions that we must prepare. It is only on the basis of Christ's righteousness that we have direct access to God's throne. And we can hear the word of God through the Spirit of God, and only receive the word of God under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, our preparation should be expectation, hope, humility, seriousness, and simplicity in faith.
Prayer must be learned because it is a conversation with God. Jesus' disciples asked them to teach them how to pray. Paul said that we do not know what we ought to ask for (Romans 8:26). Thomas Akempers said, "Prayer is a great art in communion with God." But prayer is not a human skill, but an activity of the Holy Spirit who guides us to put into words the groaning and poverty that lie deep within our being.
Therefore, as little children in Christ and weak in the faith, we need guidance to grow in our prayer life. It is to lead them to develop their own methods in cultivating their prayer life. Because God respects each of us and seeks to see us for our understanding and spiritual development.
There can be no fixed rules in your prayer life. However, if you take the stepping stones of dialogue carefully and seriously, you will learn how to be free and helpful rather than a bridle.
The Bible does not specifically specify the time or time of prayer. However, biblical grounds can provide good guidance. The special times of prayer suggested in the Bible are morning, afternoon, and evening.
This is what the psalms say about the time and time of prayer.
“Lord, I cry to you, and every morning I pray to you” (Psalm 88:13).
“In the evening and in the morning and at midday I will groan and groan, and the Lord will hear my cry” (Psalm 55:17).
Daniel used to pray with the window facing Jerusalem open three times a day (Daniel 6:10). At sunset, Jesus would go to an empty place alone to pray. Those with a lot of experience in prayer recommend morning prayer mainly.
For good prayer and deep prayer, it is recommended to read a lot of godly books. Prayer requires waiting and persistent wrestling. In this process, real conversation becomes possible. Jacob wrestled with God all night long by the Jabbok River and was victorious.
The reason we have to live a life of continuous prayer is to become an instrument of God's purpose and His will as agents of the progress of God's kingdom and spiritual victory in this world.
There are several obstacles in our conversation with God. One of them is sin. Because sin disturbs our relationship with God, we should always confess frankly and not rationalize ourselves before God. The other is self-assertion that we have our own conclusions and let them come to pass. When you come to God, you have to go ahead with the problem as it is and get an answer to it in the process of talking with God. Doing so requires patience.
Answers to prayers are not 0,× like the multiple-choice test answer sheet. The answer to prayer is implicit and is: change of perspective, trust, liberation, new resolution, new beginning, forgiveness, love. It is the best answer to prayer and the gift is God Himself. God is the only answer to our life's problems and questions. In such an answer, you can make a confession like Habakkuk. The Prophet Habakkuk came to God with a historical question that arose in his time, and after a persistent conversation, the answer he got was that God Himself alone was the answer.
“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails, the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I rejoice in the LORD, We will rejoice in the God of our salvation." (Hab 3:17-18) Amen