The Prayer Thread is a collection of teachings and practical prompts to help as we learn to pray in community. This text was originally delivered on February 16, 2022 as a short teaching at our online weekly prayer sit.
Unfortunately, I have heard many stories of lament and confusion from folks who abandoned prayer altogether once they realized that they had outgrown the “personal favors from God” mode of prayer.
Many of us are familiar with this prayer format, perhaps best represented by the image of a child kneeling beside their bed before bedtime earnestly asking God to take very specific actions toward keeping all the monsters away and bringing in all things of benefit. This “personal favors” approach makes good sense when prayers are offered to a God who manifests in our images of a king who grants favors, or a “Santa-like” elderly man with a white beard who watches over us to see if we are being “naughty or nice.”
Unfortunately, many of us are not taught about other ways to pray, especially not in ways that would transform our person, rather than appease our personal interests. This does not mean that direct, personal shouts and pleas to God are always inappropriate as we get older; it simply suggests that there is always “more” to prayer. In fact, “the more” of transformative personal prayer, its deepening and widening impact on our lives, its ability to speak to every nook and cranny of our daily living is precisely what allows prayer to become personally transformative, long after we receive that first inkling to let go of the prayers and images associated with “the personal favor” God. As we mature and develop in our prayer, we can come to recognize that there are so many personal and transpersonal images of God!
What images of God transform you personally in prayer?
