New Depths in Prayer

I have traveled extensively around the world and lived in two other countries, and during that time, I have visited, conversed with, and worshipped alongside hundreds, maybe thousands, of other Christians.

Everywhere I have been, I have been blown away by the quality of prayer of our global brothers and sisters. In Cameroon, churches routinely held all-night prayer meetings; in Lebanon, Christians pray urgently for peace; in the United Kingdom, churches regularly get together for ecumenical prayer gatherings. 

In comparison, my own prayers have sounded shallow, immature, inauthentic. They make me feel as if I am a novice in the spiritual life.

I suppose I am a novice at this thing called prayer. But I have been determined to change that.

I have been on a personal quest to go deeper in prayer over the last ten years. In the past year, the quest has become more urgent, given the shape and tenor of our national politics, as well as the events roiling the globe. I have grown increasingly weary and tired with the constant barrage of bad news, and the only thing that I have found which gives me true hope and continual succor is a deepening relationship with God in prayer.

One of the biggest steps forward in my prayer journey was the discovery of contemplative prayer. Contemplative prayer is praying without words or thoughts, as opposed to discursive prayer, which absolutely depends on words and thoughts. Everything we pray on Sunday mornings is discursive; when Ken or I lead us in prayer, we put ideas into words for the purpose of communicating with you, so that you may participate in the prayer itself and be able to say a hearty “Amen!”

But the truth is that God is beyond all words and thoughts. We cannot describe God in any human language, because God transcends all our puny attempts to constrain God’s self. Our words always fall short. Our thoughts always do an injustice to the true God.

Contemplative prayer is a way of praying in which one tries to set aside rational discourse and put oneself into a listening, receptive posture.

I have just finished writing a book about this subject, entitled, Deeper: Take Your Prayer Life to New Depths, which I am offering as this year’s Lent study. In the book I explore both discursive and contemplative prayer methods, and provide exercises in many different types of prayer.

I’ve also been enrolled in a new self-publishing course and, with the help of a book coach, I’m hoping to get a wider distribution of the book.

The book officially launches on Amazon on Sunday, Feb. 11, and for the first two days, will be offered as a free Kindle book. If you would like to be notified by email when the book is available, click here and sign up for the Pre-Release List. I’ll send you an email on the 11th with a link to download the book. (Physical copies of the book will also be available in church on that day, as well as on Amazon. But those will be sold for $10 each.)

I would love for you all to download my book at that time; this helps my ranking on the Amazon charts, and will get it in front of more people. I would also appreciate if you wrote reviews of the book, and posted them on Amazon, too.

My hope is not that I become a bestselling author for the sake of becoming a bestselling author. I want people to become better at prayer. I want us all to draw closer to God, who is the Source and Meaning of Life, who is Love and Mercy.

I want us to go deeper.

Lessons From the World's Worst Missionary

    As I pointed out in the sermon on Sunday, the figure of Jonah is a caricature. He is a terrible prophet and a petulant little man. I consider him the worst missionary ever!
    That’s why he is such a helpful character to ponder as we consider how to do mission right. Starting next Wednesday night at 6:30 pm, I’ll be leading a class on missions, and attempt to lay out a full theology, strategy, and spirituality for the church as we improve the way we help and serve others.
    But first let’s see what we can learn from Jonah about how not to do missions:

1. Jonah went alone. Missions is never a solo venture; it’s not meant for Lone Rangers. The first and most glaring problem with Jonah’s travels to Nineveh is that he didn’t take anybody with him. Therefore, there was nobody to support and encourage him, nobody to hold him accountable, nobody to talk common sense to him. When we attempt to do missions all by ourselves, no matter how noble or worthy, we are doomed to fail.
    
2. Jonah didn’t learn the language. Did you notice that Jonah makes absolutely no preparation for his mission trip? He didn’t attempt to learn the language, the local culture, or anything else at all about the context to which he was traveling. I have a picture in my mind of Jonah walking through the middle of the city proclaiming, “In forty days, you will be overthrown!” in Hebrew, as people looked on with amusement since they couldn’t understand a word he was saying. The fact that the people and the king ended up being converted by this very brief sermon in a foreign language is a satirical jab at Jonah’s disinterest in actually communicating to the Ninevehites.
    
3. Jonah didn’t befriend any Ninevehites. Again, the whole point of the story is that Jonah hated Nineveh. He didn’t want them to experience God’s shalom. That is most obvious by his absolute disregard of the people themselves. He didn’t take any steps to get to know them, understand them, or create friendships.
    
4. Jonah viewed himself as superior to the Ninevehites. Obviously, Jonah thought his religion and culture better than Nineveh’s, and he saw himself as going to impose his worldview on that city. This is a subtle and malicious error that Christian missionaries have perpetuated throughout the centuries. Many of the 19th-century, so-called missionaries to Africa, for example, were nothing but Western colonizers, setting the stage for economic exploitation. But we make the same mistake when we view ourselves as superior to those whom we serve.
    
5. Jonah was in a hurry. Note that he didn’t care to stick around the city very long. He did the absolute bare minimum of God’s command; he stuck to the letter of the law. Then he left and climbed the mountain to watch the destruction. He wanted immediate results to his missionary activity, and so often, the same is true of our own efforts. The truth about missions is that the most enduring, long-lasting, and best work is done over a long period of time. Short-term mission work is usually just that — short-term, and can be very damaging.

    Imagine how the Book of Jonah would have read if Jonah were a model character, an exemplary prophet. It would have been pretty boring! No big fish, no bean plant, no pouting prophet.
    Instead, we would read of a man who assembled a team of men and women who cared deeply about Nineveh’s history and culture, learned their language, listened to the people in the city, sipped coffee with them in their cafes, received hospitality from them, and lived with them for a long time. Perhaps eventually this team would get around to making suggestions, offering a hand, or building something. But this would only happen after a long period of listening, reflection, prayer, and study.
    Like I said, it wouldn’t be nearly as exciting as the whale story. But it would make a lasting difference toward establishing God’s kingdom.

Mapping Our Way in Missions

    I heard a (newer) member of the church say recently that she felt like she had grown closer to God since joining our community. That was music to my ears; one of my primary goals as a pastor is to foster spiritual growth. I am committed to helping each one of you to grow in your relationship with God.
    But she followed that remark with the observation that she didn’t really know how to get involved with any of the church missions. She was unclear about how to take that step.
    I understand her confusion. We have lots of mission projects, but they are a bit disconnected and disparate.
    Over the last couple of years, our church has taken significant steps in becoming more and more mission-oriented. We have been slowly reorienting our gaze outward rather than inward. We have fostered a number of new ministries through the formation of Catalyst Groups; we have bolstered the work we do with some long-standing organizations, like the Hillcrest House and The Well; and we have continued supporting other United Methodist projects.
    All this mission energy has been good for us. But it has also been a little disorienting, as this young member expressed. Some of you have complained to me that it feels like we do a little bit too much, that we have our hands in too many different projects. Others have said they would like to go deeper in their particular ministries, lack the tools and resources to make it happen.
    This spring, I will offer a class after Wednesday Night dinners to reorient our sense of mission. This class is open to all, and it will be the only class for adults on Wednesday nights, because I would like as many of you as possible to attend.
    I’m calling it “Mission Action Planning,” or MAP, for short. I've constructed it as a kind of primer on mission work. I'll talk about why mission work is important for the church, as well as what to do and what not to do when helping people. Some of the lessons are more theological and Biblical; others are more sociological and psychological. We’ll meet for 12 weeks, and you’re welcome to attend all or any particular session. I’m planning to cover the following topics:

What it Means to be a Missional Church
Being Present: Learning to Be in the Mission Field
Building Relationships: The Core of Mission
Cross-Cultural Competencies
Beyond “Helping”: Learning to Do Justice
Decolonizing Mission
Embracing a Missional Theology
Practicing a Contemplative Spirituality
Short-Term Trips/Long-Term Results
Releasing Outcomes
How to Form a Catalyst Group
The Role of the Mission Committee

    Some of the material might sound familiar to those who have been through Catalyst Training, and there will be some overlap. However, I’m adding new material, and changing much of what I have already taught. Plus we’ll have some guest presenters. You’ll find this to be a helpful refresher course in “how to do mission right,” as I like to put it.    
    The first class takes place after dinner on Wednesday, Jan. 31 at 6:30 pm, and will last for an hour. Please come and participate as we “MAP” out our missions, and learn how to effect creative change in our world.