Does your faith feel weak?
Do you feel your prayers may make it to the ceiling above your head but certainly aren’t clearing the skyline, much less reaching God?
I have been in ministry for nearly thirty years. During that time, I’ve sat with dozens of men and women expressing a chasmal concern that their faith is too weak to meet the day’s demands.
On one level, I believe we are experiencing a comprehensive faith crisis within everyday Christianity. As some are observing, we are experiencing an epidemic of anemic faith.
Years ago, David Wells, a notable Evangelical Theologian, sounded the alarm when he said we are a “superficial Christian subculture (with) a faith that is easily consumed but has lost its depth and ability to speak into today’s pains and perplexities.“
WHEN PRAYERS LACK LANGUAGE AND MEANING
There are many reasons why this is so. Too many to name here. In my experience, however, there may be one reason dwarfing them all: we lack meaningful experiences of prayer and, therefore, rarely, if ever, develop a vital prayer life.
I often hear, “I just don’t know how to pray,” or “I try to pray, but after I ask God for what I want, I don’t know what else to do.”
Some confess a fear of praying.
The irony is that prayer is a central reality in the Scriptures. Jesus himself was often seeking time to escape the demands of his daily mission to spend time with His Father in prayer. He even went as far as to call His Father’s house a house of prayer!
I define prayer as enjoying communion with God. To pray is to enter an ongoing and interactive relationship with the Father, Son, and Spirit.
If you’re like most believers, you long for a deeper faith walk and a more meaningful prayer life.
The good news is that there are handles we can grab a hold of that help us enter into this dynamic relationship with the Father, Son, and Spirit.
I’ve enjoyed growing and dynamic prayer life through the years (though often plagued by the inevitable ebbs and flows that challenge such growth). Perhaps I can share some comments, rhythms, or practical handles from my own life and experience with Christ through prayer.
HANDLES TO HOLD AND PATHWAYS TO WALK
With that in mind, I offer two trails or pathways that will, if tried, lead you to a robust faith walk and increasingly joyful prayer life:
- Trail One: Praying the Scriptures – most notably the Psalms, but there are many others. It’s difficult to flip through too many pages of the Bible without encountering a powerful prayer!
- Trail two: Praying the written and recorded prayers of those before us. We are the inheritors of two thousand years of prayers within the Christian tradition. It’s time we experienced them!
Let’s begin with the Psalms. Deitrich Bonhoeffer once wrote that the Psalter is the prayer book of the Bible. Gleaning from the Psalms, we will experience, often viscerally, the potent language of prayer – a necessary component of developing a life of prayer.
The language of prayer is filled with terms and phrases like:
- Adoration
- Praise
- Confession
- Grief
- Anger
- Joy
- Delight
- Wailing
- Mourning
- Pleading
- Lament and Sorrow
I will draw first from the language of Lament primarily because that is the most neglected and least well-known. Nearly half of the Psalms are Psalms of Lament. A Lament is a wailing, crying out – a prayer – expressing sorrow, pain, or confusion.
One of many Psalms of Lament is Psalm 86, featured in the image below.
I will also offer (as a tool designed to assist) paraphrases of the Psalm under consideration. It’s common practice for me to pray the Psalm and expand the prayer as I do. Doing so creates something of a personal paraphrase of the passage. The Psalm becomes the framework of my prayer.
PRAYERFUL PARAPHRASE OF PSALM 86:1-7
“Dear Father whom I know, trust, and love. I am struggling. Some of the struggles I have brought onto myself. Others are being imposed on me by others. Even so, I feel the weight of the world; I am overwhelmed by want. Answer my cry. I need you to hear me right now, O Lord.”
Name* your struggles here: _____________________________________ – trust them in the Lord’s care.
“Guard my heart, O Lord. Direct your attention toward me, I pray. I desire to live the life you have in store – to be the person you created me to be. Even as your devoted child, I struggle. I know I love you, yet my love feels so weak. I know I trust you, yet my trust is riddled with doubt.“
Name the areas where your love and trust is weak: _____________________________.
“I need an injection of joy, O Lord. I hold my heart before you. I no longer trust it in my care. I fully and completely offer my heart, soul, and being to You! I lift my prayers to you all day! I hope in your deliverance! Help me seek and receive your loving, spacious, and generous presence. ”
Name at least one way the Lord has brought you joy: ________________________________.
“Yes! You are good. You are loving and always ready to love. You are forgiving and always ready to forgive. You are Anchor. You are Refuge. I give you thanks for the gift of your presence through prayer. Help me remain in your presence as I leave this time of prayer. Please remind me of this moment as I call on you through the day and night. This moment when you heard, restored, renewed, and received me into the communion of your divine presence. Amen”
Name one thing that will help you remember this moment (a word, phrase, impression, etc.) as you leave this space: _________________________________________________.
*Some thoughts on Naming. You may wonder why I include a pause to “name” things. It’s because you cannot know what you cannot name. Naming what’s true helps you know what’s real. The more you know what’s real, the more you will name what’s true!
I suggest praying the Psalm (and/or the paraphrase) two or three times a day. As you pray, do so thoughtfully, meditatively – chewing on every word or phrase – asking the Spirit of Christ to guide you to His love, light, and life.
Consider the following six thoughts as you consider how to enrich your faith walk and enjoy an ongoing and interactive relationship with Christ. Hopefully, these steps will serve you along the way as you seek to find the time to deepen your walk with Christ.
SOME HOW-TOS TO HELP YOU SETTLE INTO THE PRESENCE OF GOD VIA THE PRAYERS OF THE PSALMS
- Give yourself five to ten minutes of time to practice this way of prayer.
- Try to craft two different times during the day. Perhaps in the morning just after you wake up and then again at night just before bed.
- Read the Psalm (in this case, Psalm 86:1-7) aloud a couple or three times.
- Next, read (or pray) the paraphrase provided. Feel free to change it at will.
- Ask the Lord to guide you to a specific verse, word, or phrase to sustain you throughout your day. For your evening prayer, ask Him to help you settle into His word and, with it, bring peace and rest through the night hours.
- End with gratitude and expectancy.