A Little about Prayer

Many Christians think of prayer as our list of requests, worries and admissions of guilt with requests for forgiveness, given to God in a one-sided stream of words and thoughts, and we hope we get it right.  But that's only part of the Bible's teaching on prayer.  In my reading, I've found more than a dozen different types of prayer, each appropriate for a specific time or use!  Today I want to outline two of them for you.  I am grateful for the detailed descriptions given in Adele Ahlberg Calhoun's excellent work, Spiritual Disciplines Handbook:  Practices that Transform Us.  (The link will take you to christianbook.com where you can purchase it if you like, but I don't get any commission or anything.)

But first, why pray?  Jesus said "your heavenly Father already knows all your needs" in Mat. 6:34 shortly after teaching the disciples how to pray.  So prayer is not informing God of our needs or worries or fears or pain.  To paraphrase many different authors over the centuries, prayer is entering into an intimate conversation with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, where we may freely speak but where God also may freely speak to us.  It includes becoming quiet before God so he can respond to all our temporary concerns with his eternal love.  

Breath Prayer:  perhaps the simplest form of prayer, certainly the shortest.  A breath prayer might consist of breathing in while thinking of one of God's names such as "Lord of heaven's armies" or "Jesus, Son of David;" then breathing out and saying "Hear my prayer" or "You are my God forever" or another term of praise or a request.  It's helpful to do the same prayer several times in a row as a way to slow down and focus, perhaps in preparing for another spiritual activity.

Conversational prayer:  you may have experienced a prayer group, where people take turns praying, often about many topics at once.  In conversational prayer, like in a discussion among friends, everyone takes turns, briefly, praying about a specific topic and listening to one another pray.  It is like a discussion with God and one another, prompted by the Holy Spirit moving within each of us, until we feel prompted to move to a new topic. It's a type of prayer that takes sensitivity to the Holy Spirit's voice in ourselves and in one another. 

These are only two forms of prayer that you may not have practiced.  I suggest you give them a try, though, as they can enrich your prayer life and your appreciation for the Lord's intimate concern for you and others.