Weaving Prayer Into the Tapestry of Life

SETTING UP THE LOOM
“As the deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God” Psalm 42:1
Books, like people, have personalities. Some books are an easy fun read, ideal for a rainy Saturday afternoon or a day at the beach. “Page-turners” keep you awake until 3:00 a.m. “Life changers” give you insight or information that answers important questions. Books can scare you or thrill you or inform you. Books can be boring. After a few pages, you yawn and close the book, and that’s that.
With most books, once you have read the last page, you can put them on the shelf, or pass them on to someone else. Those books are like visitors. They come and go. This book wants to hang around and be used. It would like to be a friendly companion to help you connect with God about the living of your life as you weave your personal life tapestry
The chapters of this book talk about prayer. They provide an overview of a Christian understanding and practice of prayer.
I have discovered in leading retreats, classes and workshops that many people have unanswered questions about prayer. Some confess that these questions dampen their enthusiasm about praying. Others admit that intellectual challenges block them from praying, except in times of crisis, of course! Our world-view has been shaped by the scientific revolution of the past two hundred years. Prayer has become for many people a meaningless vestige of the past because it defies critical scientific analysis. They see it as existing in the shadowy realm of magic and superstition. Others continue to go through the motions of prayer but they are not sure what they are doing. Some whose prayers are limited to asking give up on prayer if their expectations are not met.
The chapters of the book offer my personal conclusions out of a struggle to create a thinking person’s faith in prayer. Chapter One sets the context with an image of life as weaving. Chapter Two looks at the thread of prayer, with special attention to what we can believe about the One with whom we commune in prayer. With the loom set up, the rest of the book explores the forms the thread of prayer can take in our life weaving. As we create the tapestry of our lives, we can ask God for ourselves and others. We can deal with the past. We can listen to what God would say to us. We can respond to God. The last two chapters look at some of the ways Christians pray together, and summarize some of the difference prayer makes.
After each chapter, there is an invitation to move from thinking to doing. A series of Prayer Prompts provide a structure for experiencing all of the dimensions of Christian prayer discussed in the book.
I created the first set of prayer prompts to provide a structure for expanding my private prayer experience into the wider world of Christian prayer. I have shared these guides for prayer with others who have found them helpful. The general outline of a set of Prayer Prompts leads you through the following kinds of prayer:
1. Centering
2. Praise
3. Confession
4. Meditative reading of scripture
5. Petition
6. Intercession
7. Thanksgiving
8. Dedication
9. Silence
10. Benediction
Short phrases in each section that end in a ellipse (. . .) invite you to complete the thought with whatever rises from your heart. For example, a passage of praise from a Psalm will be followed by “I praise you for…“. A brief prayer of confession will conclude with “I confess. . . These phrases, often from scripture and Christian tradition and practice, will help you get started with your own prayer. These prayer prompts can be adapted for long-term use. (This is the ”hanging around” part!)
Seven scripture passages are listed at the end of each set of Prayer Prompts. They relate to the content of the chapters and have the same theme. They may be used for the meditative reading of scripture in your private prayer, or as an enrichment resource for group study of this book.
If you use the Prayer Prompts as you go through the book, they will provide experience on which to reflect when you look at these dimensions of prayer in more detail in later chapters.
A journal or notebook in which you write your prayers may be helpful. The Prompts pages do not provide enough room for you to write in your own prayers. A record of your prayers in a journal may produce interesting insights as you review later what you have been praying. You may see a difference your prayers have made, discover how your prayers have grown and assumed new shapes as you prayed them. You may want to record some of these insights in your journal as well. A Bible will be needed for use in the meditative reading of the scripture section of the prayer guide.
Some of the forms of prayer may feel awkward at first. Give them a try. You may like them!
The use of these Prayer Prompts to provide a framework for your praying will help the reading come alive. Our prayers can go where our thoughts about prayer cannot follow.
You don’t need to do the whole sequence of prayers every time you want to pray. Sometimes you will need just to confess, or to give thanks or to intercede for someone. For these occasions, this book contains an Appendix of Prayer Prompts for each dimension of prayer discussed. You can pick one that seems to serve the need of the moment. You may want to add additional resources that are helpful in leading you into the miraculous dialogue with God.
A passage from the worship resources of Bruce Prewer of Australia will open each set of Prayer Prompts.
A word of encouragement :
Martin Luther once said, “None can believe how powerful prayer is, and what it is able to effect, but those who have learned it by experience.” The primary way a person grows in the experience of prayer is by praying. Weaving Prayer Into the Tapestry of Life can help that happen for you
And a disclaimer:
St. Teresa of Avila has been quoted as saying that the best way to pray is the way you pray best. Each of us needs to create an approach that seems natural and that fits where we are. The pattern used here reflects centuries of experience in Christian devotion. This pattern is only one of the many possible options and is offered here as a learning experience.