July 30, 2016 – Words From Merton
It Is A Risky Thing To Pray

“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” Matthew 6:5-8

“If we really want prayer, we’ll have to give it time. We must slow down to a human tempo and we’ll begin to have time to listen. And as soon as we listen to what’s going on, things will begin to take shape by themselves. It is a risky thing to pray, and the danger is that our very prayers get between G-d and us. The great thing in prayer is not to pray, but to go directly to G-d. If saying your prayers is an obstacle to prayer, cut it out.” Thomas Merton (The Pocket Thomas Merton, p. 84)

I have written so much on prayer in the last two years that I feel as if I am repeating myself, yet prayer is something we need to address time and time again. I like how Thomas Merton says that we need to be careful not to let our “prayers” become an obstacle to prayer. In other words, we need to understand that our prayers can become too rote, too routine, too forced and/or too predictable. When they do, they can become an obstacle to a true conversation with G-d. And, my friends, that is what prayer needs to be. When the disciples went to Jesus and asked him “teach us to pray”, Jesus did give them a formula, like in Luke 11:2-5. But within that formula are places where we can ad lib. For example,

“‘Father, hallowed be Your name…” we can extrapolate on how we try each and every day to keep the name of G-d holy.
“Your kingdom come…” we can expound on where and how we are working to bring G-d’s kingdom to the places where we see trouble.

And when we pray “Give us each day our daily bread…” it is an opportunity to shamelessly tell G-d how, what and when we need things today, tomorrow and forever.

And, if your prayers have reached a stalemate, then sit in silence and let G-d speak to you.

Pastor Dave