The Qualities of Prayer - Zelda Peach
Although I enjoyed a lot of the reading, St.Thomas Aquinas's Explanation of the Lord's Prayer was what really stood out to me, in particular, the line "many times our prayer is not heard because we seek that which is not good for us" which is in the section of the "Five Qualities of Prayer".
When St. Aquinas is writing on the five qualities of prayer, he states that "A prayer must be confident, ordered, suitable, devout and humble". I think that these five things are both important and heavily forgotten in today's world. We often forget about the true purpose of building a prayer relationship with God and instead focus on what we want. It is almost as if we treat God as somewhat as a Genie who sometimes grants wishes. We bring him our hopes and dreams and hope that we are "blessed" enough to receive what we asked for, but this is not how prayer is supposed to work. Prayer is supposed to be intentional and hold more than just our personal desires. A healthy prayer relationship involves forgiveness of sins, thanking God for what we already have, and asking for guidance. I know that for myself, I don't always want to do what is best for me, I much rather be selfish and pick individualistic ideals on what is best for me. This feeling is a perfect example of me searching and praying for something that is not good for me, and we are all guilty of it.
However, there are two things within the list of five qualities that I disagree with. I do not think that prayer needs to be confident or ordered. You may completely disagree with me, and that is fine, these ideas are just my personal beliefs, but I just disagree with these two qualities. To me, prayer does not need to be confident or ordered because sometimes we pray to God in moments of despair and pain. When someone loses a family member, they are not coming to God with ordered or neat prayers, they are coming to God broken and in sorrow. Sometimes it is when we are in our darkest moments that we can find comfort in God the most. Again, if you disagree that is fine, I just know personally that prayer is sometimes far from perfect, and that is what makes it genuine.
Overall I think these ideas of prayer are something to strive for though, and I hope to remember them more often. But prayer is something personal and should on some level be tailored to the individual. I hope that everyone can eventually find their perfect prayer balance (if such a thing exists), myself included.
P.S I commented on AnnaKate and Beanna's posts.
When St. Aquinas is writing on the five qualities of prayer, he states that "A prayer must be confident, ordered, suitable, devout and humble". I think that these five things are both important and heavily forgotten in today's world. We often forget about the true purpose of building a prayer relationship with God and instead focus on what we want. It is almost as if we treat God as somewhat as a Genie who sometimes grants wishes. We bring him our hopes and dreams and hope that we are "blessed" enough to receive what we asked for, but this is not how prayer is supposed to work. Prayer is supposed to be intentional and hold more than just our personal desires. A healthy prayer relationship involves forgiveness of sins, thanking God for what we already have, and asking for guidance. I know that for myself, I don't always want to do what is best for me, I much rather be selfish and pick individualistic ideals on what is best for me. This feeling is a perfect example of me searching and praying for something that is not good for me, and we are all guilty of it.
However, there are two things within the list of five qualities that I disagree with. I do not think that prayer needs to be confident or ordered. You may completely disagree with me, and that is fine, these ideas are just my personal beliefs, but I just disagree with these two qualities. To me, prayer does not need to be confident or ordered because sometimes we pray to God in moments of despair and pain. When someone loses a family member, they are not coming to God with ordered or neat prayers, they are coming to God broken and in sorrow. Sometimes it is when we are in our darkest moments that we can find comfort in God the most. Again, if you disagree that is fine, I just know personally that prayer is sometimes far from perfect, and that is what makes it genuine.
Overall I think these ideas of prayer are something to strive for though, and I hope to remember them more often. But prayer is something personal and should on some level be tailored to the individual. I hope that everyone can eventually find their perfect prayer balance (if such a thing exists), myself included.
P.S I commented on AnnaKate and Beanna's posts.
i agree with what you said about how we don't pray correctly. I remember, before understanding how to talk to God, praying to Him as if he were some cosmic vending machine. Pray some ten cent prayer, ask for what you want, and He is required to give it to you. if this doesn't work try again or shake the machine till it does. This couldn't be any further from the truth. God loves us so much but he wants us to love him too. God is not the giving tree, nor will he be taken advantage of. He will always do whats best for you even if its whats most painful.
ReplyDeleteYou see, I agree with you on the ordered thing... as sometimes the most I can do is desperately call out to God and sound super uneducated because in the midst of pain - to be ordered and civilized is sometimes too much to ask. I don't know, though, I guess for me, my personal prayer life is almost always conversational with God... I start talking and then I get this feeling as I hear God "talk" back and so I talk again and thus it's like talking to my best friend. Although there have been nights where I go to God completely falling apart and all I can say is, "You already know what I don't have the words to say right now." I feel like prayer is super personal and individual to that person, though, as I pray completely differently than some people. I am not a "list" type prayer-er, I can't do the whole "off of what I have written down" type thing - it just isn't natural for me. If that makes sense??
ReplyDeleteI definitely enjoyed reading that section as well. Hannah Brencher, an author and speaker who spoke at chapel last semester, has spoken of how she sometimes has to intentionally pray an "honest prayer". She pours out her frustrations, griefs, and joys to the Lord without restraint. While I'm not sure that is always the best way to pray, I know this follows your concern with prayers having to be confident or ordered. I wrote in my blog post about ordering our desires in our prayers and honestly think it is best to desire the Kingdom of God first and let our prayers follow that desire. Are my prayers always like that? No! But I think personally I am best aligned with the Holy Spirit when I desire His Kingdom above my wants and my prayers are ordered likewise.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you that prayer doesn't always need to be ordered, even though I definitely feel closer to God when they are. If you've ever heard me pray, you know I usually get tongue-tied and sometimes I'm not really sure what I'm actually trying to say (which is pretty typical of me, to be honest). Sometimes you just don't know what to say, and that's okay! But I do feel that prayer needs to be confident. Being confident in prayer doesn't mean being sure that your prayer will be answered, but it's more about having the faith that God will hear you and never do you harm. Hebrews 4:16 tells us to come boldly to the throne of grace to receive his mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Other than that detail, I agree with you on all points!
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Prayer by no means should be confident or ordered. Prayer is just talking to God, and by no means should it be perfect. When we pray we are to simply humble ourselves before God, and I feel that being confident takes away from being humble. Being intentional with prayer is important because it is what is going to grow us closer with God more than out selfish desires. No we do not always consistently pray like we should, and yes, we do put our selfish desires first, but luckily God is still there for us.
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