PRAYER AND STUDY

Keep your soul free. What matters most in life is not knowledge, but character. -A. G. Sertillanges, "The Intellectual Life"

"It would…be a rather low-voltage spiritual life in which prayer is chiefly undertaken as a discipline…." Dallas Willard

Prayer and study are the two practices that are the most talked about, and perhaps the most commonly practiced - although not as commonly as we would like to imagine. Prayer and study are often either avoided or misapplied. However, they are two disciplines that act as catalysts for transformation in both the heart and mind.

PRAYER: THE PRACTICE OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD

There is much to say about prayer, but in this section we will consider prayer as a spiritual discipline. Prayer, of course, is much more than a spiritual discipline; it is a life.

Why do we need to practice prayer as a discipline? In our culture, it is because we have severely impaired attention spans. In prayer we attend our minds to God, and all too often that attention lasts for a few seconds. We begin our prayer with "Heavenly Father," and it is not long before our minds are meandering off; attending to anything other than the One we began to address.

It is for this reason that we must undertake prayer as a spiritual discipline-to enable ourselves to attain the single-mindedness necessary to attend to the God-who-is-present. It is also vital for us to understand that prayer, just as every other discipline, is a learning process. We will find ourselves distracted. We will notice our minds wandering among the countless concerns of the day. However, as we continue in the paths of prayer, our meanders will be shorter and less frequent.

Prayer is conversation or communication with God. It involves both speaking and listening. So often we pray as if it were a monologue. But prayer is so much more than talking to God. In fact, prayer is more about listening than talking.

Prayer is opening our lives to God for change. Prayer is recognition that God is God and we are not, and so in prayer we yield our desires to God's. Jesus prayed, "Not my will but yours." We ask God to change the way we see ourselves.

A prayer I have found to be frightening, but liberating, is "Lord, shine your Light on the dark-shadowed corners of my heart. Show me what I am hiding from you."

Prayer is not complicated. Prayer is not about saying the "right words," but rather a right orientation of our entire being toward God. Prayers do not need to be flowery. Prayers like that are said either to impress others or to manipulate God. Instead, when Jesus taught his disciples to pray he told them to use simple, straightforward speech (Matthew 6:7-13, 7:7-11).

"Praying is living," Henri Nouwen says. It is not limited to bowed heads, clasped hands, and closed eyes. Since praying is paying attention to God (listening, watching), we really can "pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17; Philippians 4:6)

Our prayers may be hours spent listening in silence and solitude. They may be momentary prayers for someone in a passing car. Our prayers may be spoken as we kneel at our bed before we go to sleep. They may be silently voiced as we walk into a meeting.

To pray without ceasing means that wherever we go and in whatever we are doing, we go and do with the awareness of the always-present God.

STUDY: PERFECTING THE BRAINS GOD GAVE US

Study is one of the most important keys to the change that God works in our lives.

It is through study that we discover the truth found in Scripture. If we do not have right understanding of the things of God, we cannot know how we should live-we will find ourselves to be on very shaky ground (Matthew 7:24-27; James 1:5-8).

Study is the pursuit of truth. We seek to understand things as they truly are.

Richard Foster provides some insight into study by noting four steps involved in study: 1) repetition [or rehearsal], 2) concentration [or attention], 3) comprehension [or understanding], and 4) reflection [or meditation].

Repetition is the easiest way to learn. It really matters what we rehearse in our minds. Can you think of how repetition of truths or lies may affect a person over time?

Attention is necessary for study. There are many things that distract our minds from the attention necessary for attentive study (noise, interruptions, background music, crowds, tiredness, anxiety, etc.). We must do all we can to eliminate them-or at least minimize their effects. We must focus our thoughts on the object of our study (a book, a Bible story, a sermon, etc.) This requires perseverance. Sometimes we just have to plough through with determination to stay on task. Sometimes we will have to lay down the book (or whatever) and come back to it after some time, but we must come back to it.

Understanding is necessary for study. There comes a time (sooner or later!) when you finally "get it." It is the moment of "Eureka!" or "A ha!" when you finally get your mind around a concept, problem, teaching, or subject. Jesus said, "If you abide in my word, then you are really my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free" (John 8:31-32).

Finally, meditation, or reflection, is necessary for study. We look back on what we have studied and we "chew it over" in our minds. We dwell on it, play with it, apply it to different situations, challenge it, defend it, roll it over, put it away and pull it out again, and in all of this we ask God to shape our thinking.

The most important aspect to study, therefore, is not in what we do, but in what God does with our minds. Our thinking and study must begin, continue, and end with a request for God to guide our thoughts in His truth.

Prayer must permeate our study. Henry Simmons wrote, "Too many of us are thinking these days as the world thinks because we do not begin our thinking by thinking about God. Only in paying attention to God will we experience the ecstasy that leads to wisdom.”

Thus prayer and study form a beautiful upward spiral. Study of Scripture informs our prayers about God's character. Prayer invites God to shape our minds as we study. God shapes our minds so we understand Him better which helps us pray more and better, and on and on.

SECRECY AND SACRIFICE

Secrecy and Sacrifice are two more spiritual practices that are not made easy by our culture. However, they are two spiritual practices that will produce incredible freedom from the chains of emotional, spiritual, and material insecurity.

Secrecy: Finding Security in God and Freedom from the Approval Game.

Jesus said, "Don't do your good deeds publicly so that you will be admired, because then you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven . . .  But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." Matthew 6:1, 3-4.

When we do things so that people will notice us, we may get noticed, but we will receive no reward from God (since that was not what we were after).

The discipline of secrecy cuts to the heart of why we do the things we do. Do we serve others so that we will be admired for our selflessness? Now, it cannot be helped; when we do good deeds, they will most likely be noticed. The question, however, is not with the results. The question is with our motivation. Do we do the things we do in order that we will be admired, respected, applauded? Are we caught up in the approval game?

How do you know if you are caught up in the approval game?

Ask yourself these questions:

• Do I ever feel disappointed when nobody notices my efforts/work?
• Do I ever get upset when someone else gets the credit for my idea/work?
• Do I ever find myself doing something so someone will think I am smart/better?
• Do I ever sulk when my past achievements are forgotten or ignored?
• Do I ever get upset when no one says, "Thank you?"

Of course, this is not an exhaustive list, but answers to these questions reveal how deeply we all desire admiration, praise, and respect. We all want people to tell us we are "worthy." We want to know that we have immeasurable value in their opinion.

Where does this desire come from? It comes from our insecurity about what makes us valuable as people.

What a difference it would make if we accepted the truth that God loves us without respect for our accomplishments, degrees, or physical characteristics! That God loves us simply because we are HIS "dearly loved children." The discipline of secrecy puts us in a place where we can experience this truth.

In practicing secrecy, we find the security of knowing that our value does not lie in the conditional applause or admiration of people, but in the fact that God's love for us is unconditional.

In practicing secrecy, we may intentionally prevent our deeds from being known. However, it is not necessary. In other words, we should not lie or mislead people just to keep our deeds a secret. Even if our deeds are recognized, often often will be, the point is that we do not do them in order to be recognized. (Matthew 25:31-46) We are not practicing secrecy for the sake of secrecy, but to free us from the approval game-to free us into a life of security in God.

Secrecy frees us to love others freely, not just so they love us back. We love out of the infinite reserve of love we receive from God.

Secrecy frees us from conditional, tit-for-tat relationships. It frees us into a life of generosity and compassion.

Secrecy frees us to serve with true humility. Because we serve before the audience of One, we can, as Thomas à Kempis said, rise above the "praisings and blamings" of others. We accept any recognition with easy grace. A simple thank you, or you're welcome is enough. If we get no such recognition, we did not seek it in the first place, so we are not upset.

Some Practical Applications of Secrecy:

1. Go into your room, close the door behind you and pray.

2. Send an unsigned card expressing love and encouragement to a neighbor.

3. Make up a basket of goodies and drop it at someone's door.

4. Plan at least one random act of kindness per day.

 5. Go to the cloths line and put into some jean pocket Rs.100 without anyone noticing.

SACRIFICE: FINDING SECURITY IN GOD AND FREEDOM FROM MATERIAL INSECURITY

We practice sacrifice to give up our self-security and find security in God. Sacrifice is not the same as frugality. Remember that frugality is giving up things which are "extras," luxuries, and other indifferent things, and instead, investing our time, money, and energy in things that have eternal significance.

In the practice of sacrifice, however, we go farther. We "give until it hurts." The practice of sacrifice is giving up the security of meeting our own needs with our own resources. As Dallas Willard puts it, it is "a total abandonment to God, a stepping into the darkened abyss in the faith and hope that God will bear us up."

The practice of sacrifice places us well outside of our comfort zone, and into the desert where we must trust the resources of God.

Sacrifice does not mean we are to become irresponsible. We should not be delinquent on our debts so we can give to some "good cause."

Only those who sacrifice experience the amazing depths of God's ability to provide. Only when we are totally abandoned to God do we discover the full wealth of His resources.

Practicing sacrifice may mean giving up the security of a relationship. Jesus said, "Whoever loves his mother or father or brother or sister or anyone more than me is not worthy of me." God called Abraham to give up his son.

Sacrifice may involve giving up your time, sleep, shirt, coat, career - whatever of your own resources that you trust in rather than God.

When we sacrifice, we discover the freedom that comes in such a life of abandonment.

Examine your life. In which areas do you rely solely on your own resources? Would you be willing to risk cutting off that branch so you can discover "in strange, unaccountable ways" how God can provide? 

FASTING AND FRUGALITY

"Stop trying to impress people with your clothes and impress them with your life." -Richard Foster, "Freedom of Simplicity"

Abbot Agatho, one of the desert fathers, frequently admonished his disciple, saying: “Never acquire for yourself anything that you might hesitate to give to your brother if he asked you for it, for thus you would be found a transgressor of God's command. If anyone asks, give it to him, and if anyone wants to borrow from you, do not turn away from him.”

Fasting and frugality are two spiritual disciplines that our culture will not make easy for us. In fact, the messages of almost every commercial urge us to eat more, buy more, eat more, buy more…

In this section, we will explore the why and the how of fasting and frugality-two practices that will bring us incredible freedom and open our lives to God's great work of making us more like Jesus.

FASTING: FINDING FOOD THAT IS OUT OF THIS WORLD

What is fasting for?

The primary purpose of this practice is for focusing on God. Early on in this practice, the pangs of hunger may serve as reminders to focus our hearts on God. As we develop in this practice, fasting will result in an increasing spiritual sensitivity. We will be more "tuned in" to the Spirit's leading. We will be more aware of our own inner condition. We will be more aware of the needs of others.

When Jesus was fasting in the desert he was tempted to turn stones into loaves of bread, but he said, "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4). Another time, Jesus' disciples urged Jesus to eat some food (here, Jesus was not said to be fasting), he responded, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about…My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish the work" (John 4:32,34). In abstaining from food and/or drink, we discover an alternative source of strength.

As we focus on the character and presence of God instead of food, our character will be revealed to us. We will have a heightened spiritual awareness not only of God, but of our own hearts. As Richard Foster writes, "Anger, bitterness, jealousy, strife, fear-if they are within us, they will surface during fasting." This is a benefit to us because with these things revealed, they can also be addressed.

What isn't fasting for?

Fasting is not commanded. Jesus said, "When you fast…" (Matthew 6:16). As with any discipline, there is the danger to turn it into law. It is, nevertheless, assumed to be a normal part of the life of the disciple.

Fasting is not for impressing others. Jesus essentially said, "When you fast, don't make a big show of it." It does not make you superior to others.

Fasting is not magic. The teaching of some may imply that fasting can be used to influence God to act. We do not go on hunger strikes to force God's hand-that is an attempt to manipulate God. Neither do we need to make extravagant pleas to move Him to action (Consider the parable of widow and judge in Luke 18:2-8; also Jesus teaching about prayer in Matthew 6:7-8 and 7:7-12). Fasting is not to try to get God to change his mind, but to help us "see more clearly" what God is doing.

How do we fast?

1) Keep your focus – keep reminding yourself the purpose of fasting - Your body will argue (grumbling, weakness, headaches), but don't let those things distract you from your goal. Allow them to serve as reminders to pray or to be still before God.

2) Start out small. Take baby steps into it by fasting one or two meals, one day a week. Then you may increase that as is appropriate.

3) Meditate on Jesus' teaching and practice of fasting along with related Scriptures. Read Matthew 4:1-11, 6:16-18, 9:15; John 4:42-34; Luke 12:22-34; Phil 3:19; Rom 16:17-18; 1 Cor 6:12-13).

FRUGALITY: APPROPRIATE SMALLNESS IN A BIGGER-BETTER WORLD

What is frugality?

Frugality is not stinginess. Frugality is not buying only sale-items. It is not wearing suits or dresses until they disintegrate. The practice of frugality is about removing our desire for status, glamour, and luxury. It is primarily concerned with our attitudes toward money or goods or food.

Frugality goes completely against the grain of our culture that is so obsessed with "the pursuit of pleasure". Practicing frugality means that we reject the notion that we need such things to make our lives fulfilled. We practice frugality so that our resources (time, energy, thoughts) may be devoted to seeking and serving God, instead of impressing others and gratifying ourselves.

Why do we need to practice frugality?

Consider how much of our time is spent on doing things to impress others or to serve our own desires. We spend so much time on indifferent things-things that really do not matter.

We need to practice frugality because we live in a culture that tells us that we need the bigger, the better, and the faster-and not only do we need them, we deserve them! We need to un-learn the patterns of self-indulgence. Frugality is the painful path that reminds us of how selfish and materialistic we have become.

We need to practice frugality because we live in a culture of waste. Incalculable tons of garbage is 'produced' each day. About 70 percent of all the metal we use is used only once. Most of what we use is thrown away.

We need to practice frugality because we live in a world where a billion people survive on less than ten rupees a day. What is your daily budget? By our wasteful and self-indulgent lifestyles we are contributing to the poverty and starvation around the world.

Don't feel guilty, feel responsible, and do something about it.

Frugality is about investment of time, of money, of thought, and of energy. We refrain from spending them on indifferent things so that we may be free to spend them on things that are eternal. Does this remind you of any Scripture? Meditate on Matthew 6:19-34, 1 Timothy 6:17-19.

How do we practice frugality?

As with every spiritual practice, there are no rules to follow. However, the following suggestions may be helpful as you find appropriate ways to apply them where necessary.

1) Inventory. Go through your house/room and take a note of what is necessary and what is luxury.

For each luxury, ask yourself,

- Would I be willing to give this up if God asked me to?

-Could (the time, energy, thought, and money I spent acquiring this) this have been invested in better ways?

Ask God,

 - how He would have you use these luxuries.

- if He would have you give any or all of them up. If you are convinced that He is asking you to rid yourself of them (after listening in prayer, study, and consultation with a trusted mature Christian friend), then get rid of them in the most appropriate manner.

2) Re-Consider. If you have been considering a major purchase, submit it (again?) to God in prayer. Search out your motives for buying it (Is it to have the latest and greatest? To keep up with so and so? To cater to your spoiled appetite? Or is it to serve others in some way?).

3) Re-Schedule. Go through your daily schedule and make a note of what percentage of your thoughts are spent dwelling on indifferent things.

-Commit yourself to refrain from spending inappropriate amounts of time thinking about things that really do not matter.

-Ask God to help you bring your thoughts under His guidance.

-Ask God to help you "take every thought captive for Christ."

4) Consider your diet and note how much you concern yourself with food. Are you spending inappropriate amounts of time or money here?