Prayer by the long existing definition is "talking with God." This implies two-way communication. I speak with God - He speaks with me. A relationship will fail if all the communication comes from one person. So, if prayer is going to work like it is supposed to - it isn't just me begging God to appease my selfishness (which is honestly how I think most people use prayer), it is also designed to me a time for me to listen for God's voice.
This is not, of course, earth shattering information, it's actually quite basic. However, if we believe what we say we believe our conversations with God should change dramatically. He knows everything, right? ... including what I'm going to say. In Matthew is says not to pray on and on like the pagans do. If this is true, if I know it's true why do I spend most of my prayer time talking, and when I run out of words to say, I mumble amen and move on. Do I believe that my words to God are more beneficial then His words for me? If God knows everything about me, and I know only so much about Him, shouldn't most of my prayer times be just sitting quietly waiting to hear Him speak? Answer: Yes. Make it so number one.
Not to reject the "mystical tradition" that has come to dominate the modern charismatic movement in seeking for this experience of and, concerning this Blog, word from God but this is only a single (and in the light of scripture and Church tradition a lesser)aspect of God's revelatory action (God speaking to us). Let us in this imbalanced emphasis of the mystic Christian tradition not lose the ecclesiastic and scriptural voice of God (the former of course occurring more readily and commonly then the latter). This all to say that we, as Christians, need to take seriously the voices of Scripture, of the Body of Christ (Church), and perhaps (though this is certainly foreign to American Protestantism) of Christian Tradition as the very voice of God.
ReplyDeleteHearing God's voice in not a "mystical tradition," it has been a part of man's relationship with God from the beginning. I do agree that the Word of God is the primary way that God reveals Himself, His will, His directions, and His purpose to us. This specific blog addresses hearing God in prayer.
ReplyDeleteYou misunderstand me I assure you, Mystical theology is in no way a pejorative or derogatory term but instead simply a classification of theology and theologians. The term mystical within the Christian context refers to "acts and experiences or states of the soul which cannot be produced by human effort or industry even with the ordinary aid of Divine grace."
ReplyDeleteSo a word from God would be theologically classified as a Mystical experience and those theologians who have written on the subject are considered mystical theologians.
It was the quotation marks that threw me off :) I do appreciate your comment, as I in no way wanted to deemphasize hearing God through Scripture. In fact I should have added that when we believe we have heard God through prayer that it should be checked against His word. Many terrible things have been done by someone claiming that "God told me to do it!"
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