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Vermilion Faith Community of Care
PO Box 554 Abbeville, La. 70511
Voice/Fax: (337) 893-5589 E-mail: vfcc@cox.net
Uniting the faith community of Vermilion Parish in service
through meeting critical human need.
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How can I pray effectively?
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Finding within ourselves the resources to play our part in carrying out the ‘assignment’ outlined above is a daunting task. Perhaps your prayer life is rich enough and deep enough that you have a clear idea of how you can appropriately participate. If, however, you feel unequal to the task, you might find some of the reflections below useful. Feel free, of course, to accept or reject these ideas and suggestions according to your own personal beliefs and those of the tradition of which you are a part.
The starting point for prayer is usually the triad – self, God, and the world. As I go through my day, I am aware of myself through a series of thoughts. These thoughts feature ‘me’ or ‘I’ as a separate individual, moving through the world, planning, acting, responding to it. Every so often, whether at a worship service or a time of personal prayer, or sporadically throughout the day, I turn my attention to God, as I know Him, and direct my thoughts – as petitions, praise, thanksgiving, etc. – to Him.
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A Prayer of Fear
I can get a sense of how effective my prayers might be by taking a look at the feelings that are connected with them. If I am a stranger to prayer and to God, when I am confronted with a distressing situation, my primary emotion might be fear. Even though I cry out to God for help, my fear-driven thoughts might work in precisely the opposite direction, ‘calling forth’ a graver condition than actually exists, as in the sidebar example, A Prayer of Fear.
One of the things we begin to learn from this example is how the ‘reality’ that manifests itself in our lives is related to the deeply-held beliefs we have, many of which we are unconscious of. Jesus told a person making a request of him “according to your faith it shall be done.” If my prayer to God says one thing, but the deep fear in my heart overrides it, the fear could win out.
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A prayer of fear
Uh, oh! There’s that pain in my stomach again! What could it be? An ulcer? Gas? Maybe it’s cancer!! Oh, God, don’t let it be cancer! How would I tell the children? What will my husband do? He can’t cook or do anything around the house to take care of himself. And he certainly can’t raise three small children by himself. I wonder if he will remarry. And who it would be. Maybe his secretary – they seem to get along together so well. But I don’t want HER coming into my house! Jesus! Please don’t let it be cancer! Heal me! In the Name of Jesus! Amen. I wonder where the best doctor is, and if I will need surgery right away. Maybe we’ll have to go to Houston to M. D. Anderson . . . . .
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A Prayer of Hope
With a closer walk with God, we learn that we are not alone, that we can bring our petitions to God and see a response in changed circumstances. Of course there are situations that are outside the bounds of what God will do. So we believe. The example, A Prayer of Hope, shows the stream of thoughts of a person responding to the particular call of this day of prayer who thinks it is ‘a beautiful thought’, but whose thoughts reflect a ‘reality-based’ approach that has little room for a response to the prayer.
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A prayer of hope
Another hurricane forming in the Atlantic! Seems like we’re in for another bad year. How many did they say we could expect? Ten this year? What the pastor said on Sunday about prayers sure made sense. Maybe all of our prayers can really make a difference. Our heavenly father, please protect us from this storm. Calm the winds and the sea. And give us peace of mind as we go through this hurricane season. Amen. I wonder if we have enough plywood to protect our windows if the storm gets here. I’d better go out and check. I sure hope we have enough – the price of plywood is so high since that last storm. And I hope they have completed the repairs to Highway 34 – that would be the best route if we would have to evacuate to the west. . . . .
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A Prayer of Faith
At a deeper level still, where I have had personal experience of answered prayer, and where I share my prayer and worship life with others with similar experiences, I reach a place where I know just what to ask for and I have a deep faith that my prayers will be answered. Cliff Hebert's request to us for prayers for protection from rain for the Babe Ruth World Series is for me a beautiful example of this Prayer of Faith. It was done with a very deep trust that it would be done as requested, much in the spirit that Paul talks about in encouraging us to talk with God as 'Abba', or 'Dad'. And the content of the request itself is in harmony with the process: "Dad, can you keep the rain down for a few days while we play a few ball games?" "Thanks, Dad. You're the greatest!”
The deeper we go in our walk with God and our prayer life, the more we will be confronted with both the mystery of God and the mystery of our own being. Jesus preached the Good News that “The Kingdom of God is at hand!” Here! Now! He said this kingdom could be likened to a field with a great treasure in it that is worth selling all to purchase. Two centuries ago, Saudi Arabia was a desert wasteland. No one knew of the great wealth of oil that lay buried deep below the surface. If they had known of its existence, they still would not have known of its great versatility and value. Such are we, if we believe ourselves to be separate individuals – separate from God, separate from one another. We are ignorant of the great treasure that lies within our spirit, our consciousness. We cover our field with homes and possessions, with careers and hobbies, with what we are to eat, and what we are to put on, and we don’t take the time to rest with God and dig deep within.
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A Prayer of Dominion and Communion
In 2002, I learned a great lesson through my contribution to the prayers directed at Hurricane Lili as she approached Vermilion Parish. My approach was probably different than that of most others at the time – I spoke to the wind and the rain, the “elements” of the hurricane. Not only did I and others see a dramatic decrease in the storm’s intensity, which we relate at least in part to our prayers, but I also had a strong personal “confirmation” of my efforts by the timing and content of Our Daily Bread’s devotional reading for the day.
Jesus spoke the marvelous words “Peace! Be still!” to a storm on the Sea of Galilee. He tells us that, if we abide in him, and let him abide in us, we can do what he did, and greater. We can speak to the elements! We can calm hurricanes! This might be called a Prayer of Dominion and Communion. Dominion, because our thoughts can have a direct effect on the behavior of the elements, and communion, because we must move beyond an understanding of dominion as control for personal benefit to what author Thomas Berry calls our “historical destiny” – to create a mutually enhancing mode of human dwelling on the planet Earth. Just as we want the elements to behave differently this hurricane season, we too must change, in a very deep and radical way.
So it is time to start communicating! The warmth of the waters in the Atlantic is the driving force that creates storms of great intensity like Katrina. Even now, we can speak “cooling” to them, all across the Gulf and the Atlantic. It’s not too early, either, to learn to speak to the wind. When the hurricane season is upon us, we need to be in steady communication with the waters and the molecules in the atmosphere, telling them, “Peace! Be still!”
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