Contemplative Prayer - Spiritual Formation

[reaching4heaven]

“One way [to ‘pray all the time’] is to use ‘breath prayers’ throughout the day … You choose a brief sentence or a simple phrase that can be repeated to Jesus in one breath …” (Purpose Driven Life; p. 89)

I only had the chance to skim this today.

The quote instantly brought to mind Budhist prayer wheels. "Breath prayers" sound like the lazy man's prayer wheels.

I look forward to reading this thread when I can be alone to think clearly. Those with young children will understand...   

[Ruth]

I only had the chance to skim this today.

The quote instantly brought to mind Budhist prayer wheels. "Breath prayers" sound like the lazy man's prayer wheels.

I look forward to reading this thread when I can be alone to think clearly. Those with young children will understand...   

I only have one... and I completely understand.  Still trying to absorb the first couple of posts.

[Agatha]

It is a huge subject and I posted just the minimum to give you a taste.

When this began showing up among us, it was very strange, so we began to dig into it - and it is vast. Contemplative Prayer is only one small segment of a great number of spiritualistic practices falling under the category of Spiritual Formation.

Discipleship, as we know it from the Bible, does not mean the same when shown in the light of Spiritual Formation. It is a different thing altogether. So when the quarterly came out on "Discipleship" a few quarters ago, we knew exactly what it was - and it was not the discipleship we know from Scripture.   

If you decide to study this further, you will run into Spiritual Disciplines, Stations of the Cross, etc. All of these things and more, fall under the huge umbrella of Spiritual Formation.

One way I discovered who (among us) is teaching this was to Google the phrases with quotes around them and add "SDA" to the search:

"spiritual formation" SDA

"contemplative prayer" SDA

"spiritual disciplines" SDA

It was disheartening, yet as sad as that was to discover -- we know huge errors in the endtimes will be brought in to the church that will make the saints think and search and read -- the good news is that this forces us to study His Word in ways we have never done before to "see if these things are so." If they do not meet the test of Scripture and the Spirit of prophecy, and they do not, we need to expose these teachings and take it one step further ... preach the truth that was originally delivered to the saints.

1Th 5:21  Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 

 

[Ruth]

These are her suggestions when practicing Contemplative Prayer:

Prayer of Contemplation

The following steps may help you build contemplation into your prayer life.

    * Establish a time and a place
      Establish a regular time and place to give God your undivided attention each day (not in the car or while doing the dishes!). Have everything you need: your Bible, a journal, a pen, etc., so you can move right into prayer.
    * Keep your purpose clear
      Come to this time for the sole purpose of seeking God's face. Keep this time for worship, meditation and listening for His voice. Intercession and supplication are for another time.
    * Be still and quiet
      This is a difficult discipline and takes much practice. After acknowledging God's presence, become still and quiet before Him. Relax your mind and breathe deeply, all the while thanking Him silently that He meets you in the stillness.
    * Meditate on Scripture
      Unlike Eastern meditation, our goal is not to empty our mind, but to fill it with the revelation of God's manifest presence. Read small portions of Scripture, asking God to reveal Himself to you. Wait on Him and listen for the Shepherd's voice.
    * Journal your prayers
      Write daily love letters to God that respond to the joy of being with Him. Chronicle what He seems to be saying to you in writing.
    * Prepare for wandering thoughts
      Don't worry if your mind wanders, especially at first. Jot down things you need to do later; then return your mind to seeking God's face again.
    * Don't fear drowsiness
      It is no sin to fall asleep in the arms of God. Of course, if this becomes the norm, you may need to change your sleeping habits!
    * Infuse intercession with contemplation
      Whenever the battle in prayer takes its toll, take a few minutes to contemplate the loveliness of Christ, rest in His arms and simply enjoy His presence. Then go back to the work of active prayer.

This is outlined in the exact way that Sis. Q outlined her prayer life on a 3ABN Live programme with some other women early last year.

So now I'm curious, Agatha Dearest ... how about the critique?

[Agatha]

Did she really? Wow. That shocks me a bit. Rhema is one thing ... hummm. If this is what she is doing, she is practicing contemplative prayer, lectio divina. And the more I think about it, I should have put two and two together a long time ago but it has not struck me until you said this, Ruth. I will review her book, "Exalting His Word." Or, I wonder if this is something in addition?  Hummm.   

Well, regarding the critique ... any one of us could do a critique on Mrs. Rhodes' outline and refute most, if not all, of her suggestions based upon what we know to be sure in Scripture. We have the prayers of Jesus, the disciples of God's prophets to observe as an example to be held up against other practices.

These are my thoughts on her suggestions. They are by no means a thorough treatment of the subject, just my notes and comments because the preceding 4 pages of background pretty much speak for themselves.

 

Today we have formula prayers, rituals that are foreign to the remnant church.  Remember when the Prayer of Jabez was popular? It, too, infiltrated our ranks. Then there were Prayer Warriors, Prayer Walkers, Meditative Prayers and now Contemplative Prayers. Where did these rituals come from? Do we know? We have set forth some of the origins of these various prayer initiatives for a quick education on the matter. For now, let’s look at the rituals set up by the Contemplative Prayer emergent groups, specifically Mrs. Rhodes' as offered by some of our churches.

    * Establish a time and a place
      Establish a regular time and place to give God your undivided attention each day (not in the car or while doing the dishes!). Have everything you need: your Bible, a journal, a pen, etc., so you can move right into prayer.

Jesus’ prayer time was early in the morning – sometimes entire nights were filled with prayer to His heavenly Father. Jesus’ model has historically been our model – prayer alone with God in the early mornings, throughout various times in the day as we need to call upon Him and, in the evenings.

The family altar:  Ellen White says this: Fathers, mothers, you need to seek God morning and evening at the family altar, that you may learn how to teach your children wisely, tenderly, lovingly.  {CG 517.1} They [children] should be taught to respect the hour of prayer; they should be required to rise in the morning so as to be present at family worship.--Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 424.
 

  Guard jealously your hours for prayer, Bible study, and self-examination. In the great conflict before us, he who would keep true to Christ must penetrate deeper than the opinions and doctrines of men. My message to ministers, young and old, is this: Guard jealously your hours for prayer, Bible study, and self-examination. Set aside a portion of each day for a study of the Scriptures and communion with God. Thus you will obtain spiritual strength, and will grow in favor with God. He alone can give you noble aspirations; He alone can fashion the character after the divine similitude. Draw near to Him in earnest prayer, and He will fill your hearts with high and holy purposes, and with deep, earnest longings for purity and clearness of thought.--GW 100. {PaM 21.4}

Pencils and papers are addressed later in Prayer Journaling.

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[Agatha]

 * Be still and quiet
      This is a difficult discipline and takes much practice. After acknowledging God's presence, become still and quiet before Him. Relax your mind and breathe deeply, all the while thanking Him silently that He meets you in the stillness.

Yes. Be still, quiet, reverent and thoughtful. Again, Inspiration: Family or public prayer alone is not sufficient. Secret prayer is very important; in solitude the soul is laid bare to the inspecting eye of God, and every motive is scrutinized. Secret prayer! How precious! The soul communing with God! Secret prayer is to be heard only by the prayer-hearing God. No curious ear is to receive the burden of such petitions. In secret prayer the soul is free from surrounding influences, free from excitement. Calmly, yet fervently, will it reach out after God. Secret prayer is frequently perverted, and its sweet designs lost, by loud vocal prayer. Instead of the calm, quiet trust and faith in God, the soul drawn out in low, humble tones, the voice is raised to a loud pitch, and excitement is encouraged, and secret prayer loses its softening, sacred influence. There is a storm of feeling, a storm of words, making it impossible to discern the still, small voice that speaks to the soul while engaged in its secret, true, heartfelt devotion. Secret prayer, properly carried out, is productive of great good. But prayer which is made public to the entire family and neighborhood is not secret prayer, even though thought to be, and divine strength is not received from it. Sweet and abiding will be the influence emanating from Him who seeth in secret, whose ear is open to answer the prayer arising from the heart. By calm, simple faith the soul holds communion with God and gathers to itself divine rays of light to strengthen and sustain it to endure the conflicts of Satan. God is our tower of strength.  {2T 189.2}

Again, searching the Scriptures as well as the Spirit of Prophecy, I cannot locate an exercise of breathing deeply before approaching the Throne of Grace as a thing required to commune with God. It simply is not there. We have given evidence in the preceding posts on “breath prayers” and breathing exercises promoted by the mystics readying themselves for a trance, for meditation, for contemplation. Jesus did not teach His disciples to pray in such a way, yet we have seminars on showing the saints how to breathe through their prayers, to meditate, to contemplate. This is mysticism. This is not Bible prayer.

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[Agatha]

* Meditate on Scripture
      Unlike Eastern meditation, our goal is not to empty our mind, but to fill it with the revelation of God's manifest presence. Read small portions of Scripture, asking God to reveal Himself to you. Wait on Him and listen for the Shepherd's voice.

I commend this sister in her particular rendition of contemplative prayer to advise us not to empty our minds. This is a nice turn in her thinking. She is at least discerning on this important component.

We have accounts of Jesus meditating. Here is a sweet one: He studied the word of God, and His hours of greatest happiness were found when He could turn aside from the scenes of His labors to go into the fields, to meditate in the quiet valleys, to hold communion with God on the mountainside or amid the trees of the forest. The early morning often found Him in some secluded place, meditating, searching the Scriptures, or in prayer. DA, page 89.

We need to be guided by the Spirit of truth. Every follower of Christ should earnestly inquire: "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" We need to humble ourselves before the Lord, with fasting and prayer, and to meditate much upon His word, especially upon the scenes of the judgment. We should now seek a deep and living experience in the things of God. GC88, page 601.

Reading the Scriptures and praying appear to be two separate events. Granted, we pray when we are searching the Scriptures, that our minds may be opened to greater depths of understanding, yet the actions appear to be separate.

There is a movement called the Word of Faith movement. I am sure there is a topic on it here. The praying person is told to pray the Scriptures back to God. Now, this is not the same as claiming promises, reminding God He has promised, it is quite a different exercise we will not delve into for now. It is yet another formulae created in an effort to connect the human with the Divine.

We are to pray for divine enlightenment, but at the same time we should be careful how we receive everything termed new light. We must beware lest, under cover of searching for new truth, Satan shall divert our minds from Christ and the special truths for this time. I have been shown that it is the device of the enemy to lead minds to dwell upon some obscure or unimportant point, something that is not fully revealed or is not essential to our salvation. This is made the absorbing theme, the "present truth," when all their investigations and suppositions only serve to make matters more obscure than before, and to confuse the minds of some who ought to be seeking for oneness through sanctification of the truth.--Letter 7, 1891.  {1SM 159.3}  

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[Agatha]

* Journal your prayers
      Write daily love letters to God that respond to the joy of being with Him. Chronicle what He seems to be saying to you in writing.

Pencils and paper: I have searched high and low to find a place in Scripture and in the Spirit of Prophecy where prayers were journaled. Yes, prayers were recorded in the Bible but not individually journaled in the manner being presented to the saints today. We know that for which we ask and we are joyful and exceedingly grateful when our prayers are answered. We do not need a checklist to verify through journaling answered or unanswered prayers. When we go to the Lord, we do not need pencil and paper, only an open, pure heart to approach the Throne of Grace. We need not forget that every word we utter is recorded in heaven.

In fact, we are told to Let the inspiration of the Spirit of God dictate your prayers. As the word of life is spoken, let your heartfelt response testify that you receive the message as from heaven. This is very old-fashioned, I know; but it will be a thank offering to God for the bread of life given to the hungry soul. This response to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit will be a strength to your own soul and an encouragement to others. It will give some evidence that there are in God's building living stones that emit light.  {6T 367.1}

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[Agatha]

* Prepare for wandering thoughts
      Don't worry if your mind wanders, especially at first. Jot down things you need to do later; then return your mind to seeking God's face again.

The Spirit of Prophecy: Though the mind may wander in prayer, be not discouraged, bring it back to the throne, and do not leave the mercy seat until you have the victory.
 
Are you to think your victory will be testified by strong emotion? No; "this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith" (1 John 5:4). The Lord knows your desire; by faith keep close to Him, and expect to receive the Holy Spirit.
 
The office of the Holy Spirit is to control all our spiritual exercises. The Father has given His Son for us that through the Son the Holy Spirit might come to us, and lead us unto the Father. Through divine agency, we have the spirit of intercession, whereby we may plead with God, as a man pleadeth with his friend.--Signs of the Times, Oct. 3, 1892.

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[Agatha]

* Don't fear drowsiness
      It is no sin to fall asleep in the arms of God. Of course, if this becomes the norm, you may need to change your sleeping habits!

As Seventh-day Adventists, we will sleep in the arms of God while we await the resurrection. See the above citation from Inspiration. "Bring it [mind] back to the throne, and do not leave the mercy seat until you have the victory.”

Praying to our Creator is a serious matter. Respect, honor and attention is the very least we can give. Again, Inspiration:      Unwearyingly persist in prayer. The persistent asking brings the petitioner into a more earnest attitude, and gives him an increased desire to receive the things for which he asks. Christ said to Martha at the grave of Lazarus, "If thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God." John 11:40.

But many have not a living faith. This is why they do not see more of the power of God. Their weakness is the result of their unbelief. They have more faith in their own working than in the working of God for them. They take themselves into their own keeping. They plan and devise, but pray little, and have little real trust in God. They think they have faith, but it is only the impulse of the moment. Failing to realize their own need, or God's willingness to give, they do not persevere in keeping their requests before the Lord.

 Our prayers are to be as earnest and persistent as was the petition of the needy friend who asked for the loaves at midnight. The more earnestly and steadfastly we ask, the closer will be our spiritual union with Christ. We shall receive increased blessings because we have increased faith.

Our part is to pray and believe. Watch unto prayer. Watch, and co-operate with the prayer-hearing God. Bear in mind that "we are labourers together with God." 1 Cor. 3:9. Speak and act in harmony with your prayers. It will make an infinite difference with you whether trial shall prove your faith to be genuine, or show that your prayers are only a form.  {COL 146.2}

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