Prayer by Richard Foster, Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Simple Prayer.

The opening quote on this chapter is by Dom John Chapman and is says: "pray as you can, not as you can't" (Prayer by Richard Foster, Chapter 1). I will admit that at first, and even now, I am not too sure I know what this is saying. But when I think about it, I think it is saying  that we should pray the way that we know how, the way that works best for us, instead of trying to 'fit in" with everyone else in terms of how to pray. If praying is about being with God, spending time with Him, then each of us will have a different way of being with Him; a different way in which we can spend time with God. Maybe there is not just one way to spend time with God.

One of the things that stuck out to me in this book is when Foster wrote: "it is the notion-almost universal among us modern high achievers- that we have to have everything 'just right 'in order to pray. That is, before we can really pray, our lives need some fine tuning, or we need to know more about how to pray, or we need to study the philosophical questions surrounding prayer, or we need to have a better grasp of the great traditions of prayer"(Prayer by Richard Foster, Chapter 1). I felt that I could relate to this a little. I want to pray daily and have it be an important part of my life, yet I also feel like I need to learn how to pray. So I am reading books about praying, and talking to my friends about it, etc. Foster goes on to say that it is almost like we think of praying as something we can master. And the thing is, we can never master praying. Praying is spending time with God, and how can we master that? In this section, foster quotes Emilie Griffin in saying "to pray means to be willing to be naïve" (Prayer by Richard Foster, Chapter 1). I loved this quote for some reason. Maybe because I tend to be a little bit naïve sometimes.

This part stuck out to me maybe the most, mainly because it is freaky to be how close it is to my own feelings. I won't quote the entire paragraph, but I will quote enough to give a basic idea of what it is talking about. "I used to think that I needed to get all my motives straightened out before I could pray, really pray" (Prayer by Richard Foster, Chapter 1).   Then further down he writes: "you understand I did not want to be a hypocrite" (Prayer by Richard Foster, Chapter 1).   I can relate to this so much! I not want to be a fake Christian. I do not want to fake anything aspect of my life with God, and so if I do not know why something is being done or if I not feel it, then I won't do it. like taking the wine at communion(or taking communion at all for a long while). And my reasoning, as you can see is very similar to Foster's: I don't want to be a hypocrite.  But Foster says that when it comes to praying, none of us have or will ever have totally pure motives. He writes: "but what I have come to see is that God is big enough to receive is with all out mixture. We do not have be bright, or pure, or filled with faith, or anything. That is what grace means, and not only are saved by grace, we live by it as well. And we pray by it" (Prayer by Richard Foster, Chapter 1).   What I got from this is that we should not let the fact that we are not feeling loving, or that we don't know how to pray, or out motives are not 100% pure and altruistic, and holy, etc. we will never not have a mixture of motivations, because we don't live in a perfect world, so we should just come to prayer, come to God. He knows it all already, and He can handle all of it. Foster wrote that it is kind of like when children come to their parents, and sometimes their requests are selfish or their manners are mean, and the parents cringe, but the parents are also glad that their child came to them. It reminded me of something I wrote in an email to my friend Brent a day or so ago, that praying is kind of like a friendship: you don't just talk to your friend when you are happy and pleased with them you know?  Foster ended this section of the chapter with this: "we will never have pure enough motives, or be good enough, or know enough in order to pray rightly. We simply must set all these things aside and begin praying" (Prayer by Richard Foster, Chapter 1).  

In the next prayer, Foster introduces the concept of Simple Prayer. He writes: "simple prayer involves ordinary people bringing ordinary concerns to a loving and compassionate Father. There is no pretense in Simple Prayer. We do not pretend to be more holy, more pure, or more saintly than we actually are. We do not try to conceal our conflicting and contradictory motives from God-or ourselves" (Prayer by Richard Foster, Chapter 1).  To put it simply,  I love this idea. I love the idea that I don't have to have prayer all figured out, or be a certain way when I pray, or feel a certain way, or have a certain emotion, etc.  I came just…be with God. No matter the method, no matter the location, no matter the words, no matter the motive, no matter the intension, no matter the words, no matter the actions, etc. I can just…be with God. I just have to come. God will do the rest.

"There is a temptation, especially by the 'sophisticated' to despise this most elementary way of praying. They seek to skip over Simple Prayer in the hopes of advancing to more 'mature' expressions of prayer" (Prayer by Richard Foster, Chapter 1).   I really believe in this, because I kind of am guilty of doing this in a way. I did not grow up in any kind of religious environment, and  also, I have met some truly great and awesome Christians at ACU who are my friends. Due to these reasons, I always feel like…like a Christian baby while my friends are Christian teenagers. Like they are all so much more ahead of me, so much more advanced. Sometimes, I feel like the annoying little sister who always want to speak to her big siblings about trivial and basic things at great length while they are all wanting me to leave them be so they can concentrate on the more serious things. But reading this, it made me feel like maybe basic is not always a bad thing. And if Simple Prayer means praying by coming just as you are, no requirements, etc. then maybe, that is the way we should all be striving to pray like.

At the beginning of the next section, entitled "Beginning Where We Are", Foster Wrote: "to believe that God can reach us and bless us in the ordinary junctures of daily life is the stuff of prayer" (Prayer by Richard Foster, Chapter 1).   I really loved this! It kind of speaks for itself so I won't comment on it, but I loved it a lot!

One thing that foster wrote is that we should not be afraid to yell or scream at God, to argue with Him, etc. he wrote: "God is perfectly capable of handling our anger and frustration and dissapoiment. CS Lewis counsels us to 'lay before Him what is in us, not what ought to be in us" (Prayer by Richard Foster, Chapter 1).  This struck me because it seems like I know this, but I always…feel bad, when I complain to God, or when I am angry at Him. I want to trust Him 100%, but that is hard and maybe a little unrealistic, so maybe I should not feel bad for being totally honest with God. 

Foster ended this section with this: "and so I urge you: carry on an ongoing conversation with God about the daily stuff of life, a little like Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. For now, do not worry about 'proper' praying, just talk to God" (Prayer by Richard Foster, Chapter 1).   This encouraged me to just…talk to God and not worry about doing it right, or doing it seriously enough, or mature enough, etc.

"We must never be discouraged by our lack of prayer. Even in our prayerlessness we can hunger for God. If so, the hunger is itself prayer" (Prayer by Richard Foster, Chapter 1).I was really struck by this because I always worry about how little I pray, and yet I so long and like to think I'm working towards changing that. So this gives me hope that maybe, longing for prayer and for God is a prayer in of itself.

"An opposite but equally important counsel is to let go of trying too hard to pray" (Prayer by Richard Foster, Chapter 1).  I love this  because he is reminding us that while we should work at praying, it is also not something that we should force upon ourselves, at least not in a "I won't stop until I get this right" sorta way. We should work at praying, but we should also remember that it is not something that should be forced upon ourselves, or others.

"Finally, I would suggest that in the beginning it is wise to strive for uneventful prayer experiences" (Prayer by Richard Foster, Chapter 1).  When I read this, I thought of it like if you are in a romantic relationship, and you expect that every time you talk or hang out, it will be this beautiful, romantic, deeply intense and significant thing, etc. if you had those expectations, then it won't work. It cannot always be like that. Trying to always make it romantic and significant would take your attention away from the small, every day details that make up a relationship.

Basically, what I got from this chapter is pray by simply talking to God, despite your mood. Don't worry about getting it right or your motives. Just pray. Just come to God. He will do the rest.

 

 

 

 

Prayer by Richard Foster, Introduction

     hey, let me know how wacky and crazy my thoughts are. lol.

 

 

 In the section "The Key and the Door", Foster writes: "perhaps prayer is the delight of your life. You have lived in the divine milieu for a long time and can attest to its goodness. But you long for more: more power, more love, more of God in your life" (Prayer by Richard Foster, Introduction) I will admit that I cannot really relate to the first part of this, but the second part, about longing for more, I can. I want praying to be more than what we do at the end of a Study, or when someone is really upset or going through a hard time. I want it to mean more than just presenting God with a list of requests and thank yous.  So I can relate to at least part of this. The part about it being the delight of my life, etc. not very much. At least not yet, but I want it to be the delight of my life.

                The last section of this "introduction" chapter  is entitled "The Syntax of Prayer" and a passage in it really leaped out at me: "This book is written to help you explore this 'many-splendored' heart of God. It is not about definitions of prayer or terminology for prayer or arguments about prayer, though all of these have tjeir place.nor is it about methods and techniques of prayer, though I am sure we will discuss both. No, this book is about a love relationship: an enduring, continuing, growing love relationship with the great God of the universe.and overwhelming love invites a response. Loving is the syntax of prayer. To be effective pray-ers, we need to be effective lovers"(Prayer by Richard Foster, Introduction). I love this passage!  I love that this book won't be about how to pray, or the right words to say when praying, or a doctrine book about prayer, but instead, it will be the heart of the matter: what prayer is truly and really about: love. God. A relationship. A relationship of love with God.  Maybe at some point I will want to read a prayer book that does address those things, but for now, I just need to focus on what it truly and really is about. I feel like we have turned praying into a time where we put a list of requests to God, throw in Thank Yous, and that's it. Do we listen to Him? Does this sound like a love relationship, truly spending time with God, going to Him? I am not sure it does. I feel like it should be more. I want it to be more than just that. Have we turned praying into something that requires methods, doctrine, specific body positions, and technique? So I am excited that Foster will be focusing on the heart of praying, what God wants praying to Him to be like. I know this sounds weird, but again, I am not arguing doctrine here. I am just writing about my opinions and views and observations.  I love where he says that in order to be effective pray-ers, we have to be effective lovers. In order for our praying life to be…effective for lack of a better word….we need to be love. Love sounds it's God's language doesn't it? anyways, I loved that part. I love that fosters seems to be saying that we don't need to have fancy words or the right position or the right words or be holding hands or have taken a class on praying but we just need…to love. To be good lovers.   I feel like we forget that a lot, in many areas other than just praying.  He also writes: "real prayer comes not from gritting our teeth but from falling in love"(Prayer by Richard Foster, Introduction) that pretty much sums it up I think J

That is the end of the "introduction section. I am now about to start Part I, Moving inward: seeking the transformation we need. I am very much excited and ready to read this part. I think it will really hit home with me.

Prayer by Richard Foster, Preface and Intro

so i am reading prayer by richard foster, and these are some of my thoughts so far. hoping to get some feedback.

Preface

I downloaded Richard Foster's books to my kindle, and I am starting to read his book entitled "Prayer." I am only on preface, but already it is so good!  Normally when I do a post on this blog about a book I put the page down after all the quotes I use, however, since this book is on my kindle, I won't do that. However, I will write down the title and the author and the chapter.

   I have only read the preface of this book, but already I can tell it is going to be a good book. I was first introduced to this book junior year at ACU, during all girls' life group, when melody, one of the girls read it for one of her classes on study abroad to Oxford, and she really enjoyed it. However, I have never read it. I really think that it is going to be a good book. I am very much looking forward to reading it.

    In the preface, Foster wrote: "countless people, you see, pray far more than they know. Often they have such a 'stained glass' image of prayer that they fail to recognize what they are experiencing as prayer and so condemn themselves for not praying" (Prayer by Richard Foster, Preface).  This was one of the first things that caught my eye and I can safely say that I think I am one of these people that he is talking about. I do not think I pray enough. I do not consider prayer to be a part of my daily life, and I hate that. I am working on it, hence I am reading this book, but what if my idea of prayer is…limited. What if praying is more than just closing your eyes, holding hands, and having someone ask God for prayer requests and think Him for praises. Or doing the same thing by yourself? What if that is just one way to pray? What if there is more to it than that, and we just don't know it? I just don't know it. I know that this might sound…selfish, but I so want to experience something amazing when I'm praying. I want to experience something without explanation, that defies logic and common sense and everything we know and everything I know…I said it might sound selfish because I know that praying is about God, letting Him into our hearts and our souls. It's not about us, but there you go. It made me think that maybe this book is going to be something that is really going to hit home with me and inspire me.

                "Healthy prayer necessitates frequent experiences of the common, earthy, run-of-the-mill variety. Like walks, and talks, and good wholesome laughter like work in the yard, and chitchat with the neighbors, and washing windows. Like loving out spouse, and playing with our kids, and working with colleagues to be spiritually fit to scale the Himalayas of the spirit, we need regular exercise in the hills and valleys of ordinary life"(Prayer by Richard Foster, Preface).  Foster wrote this at the end of the Preface, and I love it!  I love the idea that you can't pray unless you are living, that it does not work unless you are living. Maybe spending all day, 24/7 in prayer is not the best way to pray, because you are not living life.  Now, I am not a theologian, and I am not debating or contradicting, etc. doctrine or life of devoted to prayer, I am merely stating my opinions here. I really loved this, and again, it makes me excited and eager to read the rest of this book. I hear nothing but good things about Richard Foster, and so far, I agree with the good things I hear. This makes me think. Maybe prayer is supposed to be about spending time with God, connecting with God, making God a part of your life, every aspect of your life. and it seems to me that what Foster is saying here, or what I am getting out of it anyway, is that you can't do that unless you are living life. you can't make God an aspect of every part of your life if you are not living your life.

Coming Home: An Invitation to Prayer

       This section comes before the first section; it's kind of an…introduction to the book.  The quote that opens this section is "True, whole prayer is nothing but love" by St. Augustine (Prayer by Richard Foster, Introduction. I really liked this quote, and I think it's fitting. Makes me think that maybe we make praying so complicated and such a big mysterious thing when in reality, maybe it is just spending time with God and going to Him and letting Him touch and change our hearts.

       One of the first things that caught my eye in this section (so far, I have not finished reading it)is this passage(it's at the end of the first part of this introduction section: " we do not need to be shy. He invites us into the living room of his heart, where we can put on old slippers and share freely. He invites us into the kitchen of his friendship, where chatter and batter mix in good fun. He invites us into the dining room of his strength, where we can feast to our heart's delight. He invites us into the study of his wisdom, where we can learn and grow and stretch…and ask all the questions we want. He invites us into the workshop of his creativity, where we can be co-laborers with him, working together to determine the outcomes of events. He invites us into the bedroom of his rest, where new peace is found and where we can be naked and vulnerable and free. It is also the place of deepest intimacy, where we know and are known to the fullest" (Prayer by Richard Foster, Introduction). i love this passage. I love the imagery of it. Of God being like a house, like Home, and praying can take us into various different parts of this Home, not just one.  Sometimes when I think of praying, I think of prayer requests or praises, one of the other. But maybe those are just two parts of it, two rooms in the house. Maybe there are more rooms. Maybe praying is simply being in the house. I know that makes no sense, but it's hard to describe. I just love the imagery. Praying is spending time with God. In various rooms, in various ways and for different ways, but spending time with God .