The issue of contemplative prayer came up on the morning show and I wanted to ask you about it here. Greg Boyd (who spoke at my church this month) wrote a book called "Seeing is Believing" wherein he gives the biblical arguments in favor of cultivating our relationship with God through imaginative prayer/contemplation. I don't know if Jesus prayed to the Father this way, but he did sometimes spend all night in prayer and it's difficult to imagine him just reading a laundry list of requests for hours on end. But maybe he did. I know that if I approached my marriage in that way, my wife would soon tire of me, perhaps thinking I didn't care much about getting to know her.
Of course, we can be pedantic and insist that prayer is defined only as making requests to God (which is true), but I'm more curious about the actual practice of Christian contemplation, not the correct name for it. Steve, you'd probably call it ruminating on scripture or on God's specific qualities, but Boyd's version uses this in a personal way. So whereas a Christian might ruminate on a scripture like "God is love," the contemplative version would be to focus on God's specific love for you and would perhaps entail thinking on the many times He's delivered you from harm/temptation and how He's given you (specifically) many good things to enjoy.
I'm still a novice to all this, but "emptying the mind" is exactly the opposite of what Greg Boyd would recommend. He'd say that we fill our mind with true statements about God in scripture and then ruminate on them by way of our imagination. Doing so personalizes many of the nebulous or impersonal attributes of God, hopefully cultivating our love for him in a relational way and not merely in a theoretical way. This seems like a good practice for those who often find that God seems distant for no apparent reason. "Draw near to God and he will draw near to you."
So having explained this contemplative "prayer" idea the way I learned it from Greg Boyd, would you still find this a dangerous practice? Since I haven't taken to regular practice I can't personally speak to its dangers or advantages. I'm still in student mode here.
Contemplative Prayer
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dizerner
Re: Contemplative Prayer
Ever read A. W. Tozer? His Pursuit of God is a classic on this topic, and he references back to the spiritual path a lot of ancient mystics blazed.
Re: Contemplative Prayer
Hi Jason,
I can't see any negative aspects of what you represent as Greg Boyd's teaching. Thinking about God is always a good thing. Many people, whom I regard to be good Christians, feel a need specifically to take time out (during prayer or otherwise) for such contemplation—something to which I could not possibly object. I think this may especially be helpful to those whose ordinary work distracts them from such musings.
My experience needn't become a template for others, since God relates to each one uniquely in the station of life in which He has placed him/her. I am fortunate, I am sure, to be called to a work that requires a great deal of thought and concentration—but not so much on things that distract from the things of God. In fact, it is a good thing for me that I am called to such a work, because my meditation on God seems to be constant, which I believe would be the case regardless of my vocation, and could easily make me a very distracted employee in any work that required a lot of cerebral attention (that is why I always enjoyed being a janitor or an assembly-line worker, in the days when I had "a real job").
From a very young age, I have always been able to relate with Nehemiah (and with Tevye, in "Fiddler on the Roof), who very naturally talked to God in the course of his day about matters that confronted him. It may seem strange to some, but, since age 16, the reality of God's presence has been something that I could no more easily doubt than the presence of the sun in the sky, and contemplation, mixed with prayer, has been as much a part of my day as have the meals I have eaten. Often, by the time I set aside time specially for prayer, I have already been talking to God about just about everything, and can only repeat myself. I don't think I have ever felt God closer in times set aside for prayer or contemplation, than at other times in the course of my day.
In the early years of my walk with God, before I had heard from so many others about their own cases, I assumed that mine was typical of the experience of all born again, Spirit-filled people. I remember, in the early seventies, when Brother Lawrence's book "The Practice of the Presence of God" was being touted by many as having revolutionized their spiritual lives, that I got and read the book. I could not see what was revolutionary in it, since it seemed to me he was describing the normal Christian experience as I had known it, and as I assumed most Christians did (it is a wonderful book, though!). I now realize that my personal circumstances may allow this all-day meditation much more than others may enjoy. The setting aside of quiet hours for contemplation is probably very advisable for those who get something from it that they do not have opportunity to enjoy in the regular course of their working day.
"Contemplative prayer," I have noticed, is a subject which different people discuss differently. The words "contemplative" and "prayer" go together well enough, and both words may apply to different times and places during our days—at one time contemplating, and at another time praying. If people do both at the same time, I hardly see how anyone could object to this.
However, the fact that so many Christian observers of the Emergent Church Movement do, in fact, see red flags associated with this term makes me suspect that it may be, for some, a technical term for some more controversial practice. From what I have been able to pick-up from the critics, they are discussing something that has much more affinity to Eastern meditative techniques. Whenever I am asked, I mention up front that I don't know much about the practice that goes under this label.
I can't see any negative aspects of what you represent as Greg Boyd's teaching. Thinking about God is always a good thing. Many people, whom I regard to be good Christians, feel a need specifically to take time out (during prayer or otherwise) for such contemplation—something to which I could not possibly object. I think this may especially be helpful to those whose ordinary work distracts them from such musings.
My experience needn't become a template for others, since God relates to each one uniquely in the station of life in which He has placed him/her. I am fortunate, I am sure, to be called to a work that requires a great deal of thought and concentration—but not so much on things that distract from the things of God. In fact, it is a good thing for me that I am called to such a work, because my meditation on God seems to be constant, which I believe would be the case regardless of my vocation, and could easily make me a very distracted employee in any work that required a lot of cerebral attention (that is why I always enjoyed being a janitor or an assembly-line worker, in the days when I had "a real job").
From a very young age, I have always been able to relate with Nehemiah (and with Tevye, in "Fiddler on the Roof), who very naturally talked to God in the course of his day about matters that confronted him. It may seem strange to some, but, since age 16, the reality of God's presence has been something that I could no more easily doubt than the presence of the sun in the sky, and contemplation, mixed with prayer, has been as much a part of my day as have the meals I have eaten. Often, by the time I set aside time specially for prayer, I have already been talking to God about just about everything, and can only repeat myself. I don't think I have ever felt God closer in times set aside for prayer or contemplation, than at other times in the course of my day.
In the early years of my walk with God, before I had heard from so many others about their own cases, I assumed that mine was typical of the experience of all born again, Spirit-filled people. I remember, in the early seventies, when Brother Lawrence's book "The Practice of the Presence of God" was being touted by many as having revolutionized their spiritual lives, that I got and read the book. I could not see what was revolutionary in it, since it seemed to me he was describing the normal Christian experience as I had known it, and as I assumed most Christians did (it is a wonderful book, though!). I now realize that my personal circumstances may allow this all-day meditation much more than others may enjoy. The setting aside of quiet hours for contemplation is probably very advisable for those who get something from it that they do not have opportunity to enjoy in the regular course of their working day.
"Contemplative prayer," I have noticed, is a subject which different people discuss differently. The words "contemplative" and "prayer" go together well enough, and both words may apply to different times and places during our days—at one time contemplating, and at another time praying. If people do both at the same time, I hardly see how anyone could object to this.
However, the fact that so many Christian observers of the Emergent Church Movement do, in fact, see red flags associated with this term makes me suspect that it may be, for some, a technical term for some more controversial practice. From what I have been able to pick-up from the critics, they are discussing something that has much more affinity to Eastern meditative techniques. Whenever I am asked, I mention up front that I don't know much about the practice that goes under this label.
Re: Contemplative Prayer
It's funny you mention it, because Steve brought up Tozer when answering this question on the air.dizerner wrote:Ever read A. W. Tozer? His Pursuit of God is a classic on this topic, and he references back to the spiritual path a lot of ancient mystics blazed.
Steve,
It does seem your vocation would influence how you see a specific practice of contemplation. I'd be worried if a bible teacher didn't spend most of his day ruminating on scripture. But even then, why do you think Jesus and the apostles set aside specific times to pray or meditate? I'm thinking about Peter going up on the roof in Acts 10 or when Paul and Luke went to the river to find a place to pray in Acts 16. And then Jesus had a custom of waking up before dawn to be alone.
I'd really like to know if there is an advantage to these times of contemplation / prayer during the day? Boyd places a major emphasis on this, which is what prompted my curiosity. Prayer would be easier to work into the day by shooting up requests as they come to us, but contemplation seems to require a quiet place to focus.
You're probably right about the emerging church as they could be breaking from tradition here and using more new age techniques. I attend one of these churches, however, and haven't noticed anything suspicious (save for the abundance of candles dotting the stage and a few other harmless oddities).
Re: Contemplative Prayer
But even then, why do you think Jesus and the apostles set aside specific times to pray or meditate? I'm thinking about Peter going up on the roof in Acts 10 or when Paul and Luke went to the river to find a place to pray in Acts 16. And then Jesus had a custom of waking up before dawn to be alone.
Such times can be very edifying.
Re: Contemplative Prayer
When I think about contemplation I generally think of it in terms of putting myself in the story. In other words, sometimes when I am reading a story from the gospels I will place myself in the story; I.e. i try to imagine the sounds, the smells, etc and really try to picture being there. I especially love doing this for John 21, my favorite chapter in the Bible, (or at least one of them).
I visited my daughter in law's church last weekend; the pastor had been in a series on spiritual disciplines. That week's sermon was on solitude. Toward the end of the service he invited a period of quiet that lasted only a few minutes. During that period, I had the specific sense of sitting next to Jesus; I had a sense of unworthiness but then I sensed him put his arm around me. He didn't say anything but I could feel love emanating. Talk about melting! That type of experience really hadn't happened to me before.
But anyways, I think contemplation can help us to have experiences like that, which I think is a good thing.
TK
I visited my daughter in law's church last weekend; the pastor had been in a series on spiritual disciplines. That week's sermon was on solitude. Toward the end of the service he invited a period of quiet that lasted only a few minutes. During that period, I had the specific sense of sitting next to Jesus; I had a sense of unworthiness but then I sensed him put his arm around me. He didn't say anything but I could feel love emanating. Talk about melting! That type of experience really hadn't happened to me before.
But anyways, I think contemplation can help us to have experiences like that, which I think is a good thing.
TK
Re: Contemplative Prayer
I appreciate the story. A good thing indeed!TK wrote:But anyways, I think contemplation can help us to have experiences like that, which I think is a good thing.
TK