from http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9036126688324230916#editor/target=post;postID=6807412664444233283
"The intervening God who answers our intercessory prayers is a comfortable
fiction that is no longer
worthy
of our worship. This kind of honesty
scares people who want security not truth. I still think intercessory prayer
has a place in the Christian life but it would take a book just to unload
the distortions of the past and then to chart new definitions for the
future. Suffice it now to say that the God who is the Source of Life, the
Source of Love and the Ground of Being can only work through the life, the
love and the being of people like you and me. So you and I must intervene
wherever we can as God bearers. Our lives become our prayers. Prayer is not
quite like saying, "Now I lay me down to sleep."
I am amazed, for example, that Christian prayers seem to assume that God
enjoys being flattered. So we call God by a variety of titles: 'Almighty,'
'Most Gracious,' 'All Loving,' 'Most Merciful,' 'Creator of all things,'
etc. We also tell God in our prayers what we hope is true about God! "You
are more ready to hear than we to pray," or "You are more eager to forgive
than we deserve." This, we need to be reminded, is our human language, it is
not God's language. It is created out of our needs not out of God's needs.
The questions that we never ask are: "What does this language say about us?"
That is where our inquiry ought to focus. We are not describing God, even in
our prayers, we are defining our needs and giving voice to what we believe
are our experiences.
Does prayer do any good? Once again, that assumes that you want your prayers
to accomplish your will. Since that is not the purpose of prayer, I don't
see how one can proceed to answer such a question. I pray daily. I claim
nothing for it. I believe it opens me to God. There is nothing more than I
can say with confidence. Those who presume that they have answers are simply
delusional."
scares people who want security not truth. I still think intercessory prayer
has a place in the Christian life but it would take a book just to unload
the distortions of the past and then to chart new definitions for the
future. Suffice it now to say that the God who is the Source of Life, the
Source of Love and the Ground of Being can only work through the life, the
love and the being of people like you and me. So you and I must intervene
wherever we can as God bearers. Our lives become our prayers. Prayer is not
quite like saying, "Now I lay me down to sleep."
I am amazed, for example, that Christian prayers seem to assume that God
enjoys being flattered. So we call God by a variety of titles: 'Almighty,'
'Most Gracious,' 'All Loving,' 'Most Merciful,' 'Creator of all things,'
etc. We also tell God in our prayers what we hope is true about God! "You
are more ready to hear than we to pray," or "You are more eager to forgive
than we deserve." This, we need to be reminded, is our human language, it is
not God's language. It is created out of our needs not out of God's needs.
The questions that we never ask are: "What does this language say about us?"
That is where our inquiry ought to focus. We are not describing God, even in
our prayers, we are defining our needs and giving voice to what we believe
are our experiences.
Does prayer do any good? Once again, that assumes that you want your prayers
to accomplish your will. Since that is not the purpose of prayer, I don't
see how one can proceed to answer such a question. I pray daily. I claim
nothing for it. I believe it opens me to God. There is nothing more than I
can say with confidence. Those who presume that they have answers are simply
delusional."
What do YOU think?
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html
Download your
very own copy of
ANOTHER SHOT
by Ray Jozwiak
Please Visit
http://www.rayjozwiak.com
Tweet
