Prayer: The Joys and Difficulties


As I posted earlier, Martha Grace Reece, put prayer at the center of Mainline evangelism -- you can't share what you don't have -- and that's a relationship with God.


Today in the LA Times, Connie Kang writes about Prayer -- its joys and its difficulties. She interviews a number of religious leaders, including Richard Peace, a professor at my alma mater -- Fuller Theological Seminary. Peace makes a point that we need to hear -- at least that's my opinion -- without a community it's difficult to be a person of prayer. Sometimes, as he notes it feels natural, other times you have to work at it, and there are times when you'd just rather not do it. I know the feeling, especially as he says that the times it feels natural are fewer than the others!


Roman Catholic Ronald Rolheiser makes the analogy to marriage:


"We need to pray in such a way that sometimes in our prayer we can hear God say, 'I love you,' " he said. Like people who have been married for a long time, it's important to tell one another, "I love you," he said. "Saying I told you 30 years ago won't do."

In a way, he said, a relationship with God is like a marriage. It takes "concentration and discipline" to make it work."

There is only one rule for prayer," he said. "Show up."


It is the showing up part that often is the most difficult and yet the most rewarding part of this.

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