Not long ago several people mentioned that they would like to hear more about prayer. I thought that since we are entering Lent, now would be a good time to explore the meaning and the practice of prayer. It is, after all, one of our sources of strength and discernment on a spiritual journey through the wilderness of Lent. But I'm not entirely sure what the particular issues or questions are in regards to prayer. So I also plan to continue this reflection in a community discussion in March so you'll have a chance to reflect upon prayer and share your own thoughts and experiences with each other. This morning is just an attempt at starting this conversation about prayer.

Age 5: Praying for a red wagon (or was it a red bike?) I got both, at different times in my childhood, so I guess you could say my prayers were answered. But I also remember prayers that weren't answered. God may have seemed to me back then to be a lot like Santa Claus, but the hoped-for outcome was never guarenteed.

I no longer believe that God is Santa Claus, yet this was a part of my spiritual developmental history.

Our concept of prayer is tied to our image of God.

Example: Everything is God. Story about a man whose been studying prayer and meditation almost his whole life. He sees a charging elephant running toward him. Sits down and prays. Gets run over, severely injured, almost killed. His spiritual guru visits him in the hospital. The injured man says, "I thought you told me everything is God. I saw that the elephant running towards me was God and I trusted that I would not be hurt, but here I am, crippled for the rest of my life." The guru responded, "It is true that the elephant is God, but so was the man riding on top yelling for you to get out of the way."

We can't really talk about prayer without first talking about our concept of God.

1) We can never fully comprehend God. God will always be a mystery.

2) Our concept of God is constantly growing and changing throughout our lives. This is as it should be. Many of the images and concepts of God that I had at an earlier age I no longer find viable.

3) The issue of who and what God is takes more than one lifetime to explore, and we do this work in many, daily, small steps.

So while our concept of God is inextricably linked with our understanding and experience of prayer, we can't wait to know the full truth about one before we explore the other. We just have to do our exploring with humility and a sense of humor.

Thomas Merton, who wrote extensively about prayer and contemplation, towards the end of his life wrote, "We do not want to be beginners. But let us be convinced of the fact that we will never be anything else but beginners, all of our life!" (Merton, CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER)

So let there be no experts, no hierarchies, no orthodoxies and certainly no dogmas when it comes to prayer!

This isn't about being right or having the correct understanding.

My current understanding of prayer is influenced by eastern meditation practices, yoga, as well as Christian tradition and the insights of process theology.

Buechner quote . . . .

Jesus had some interesting things to say about prayer. First to jump to mind is this short aphorism which is found in the gospels of Matthew, Luke and Thomas.

There is a debate among scholars as to whether this saying originally had a vertical meaning (i.e. ask of God) or a horizontal meaning (i.e. ask of your neighbor). In either case the emphasis is on our initiative, our asking, seeking and knocking.

The following verses, also from the Gospel of Matthew, are taken from a book by Eugene Peterson titled THE MESSAGE. They are a paraphrase of Matthew and not a scholarly translation.

Jesus said,

Prayer is not for show, or a way to gain status.

Jesus said,

Prayer as listening intently to the movement of God here and now.

Jesus said,

Prayer as opening with compassion and trust.

Finally, there is also the mystical dimension to prayer as expressed in this 11^th century text by Symeon:

Prayer as mystical union with the Divine.

My working definition of prayer (for today):

But I am curious to know what your definition of prayer is. And this reflection today has only begun to scratch the surface. Let me close with what I consider to be some very wise and inspiring words for us to consider as our conversation moves forward.

Samuel Miller, former dean of Harvard Divinity School, wrote,