How Should Christians Pray?

I’ve read a lot recently about contemplative prayer on several blogs, and after reading the storm going on over at Everyday Mommy's blog regarding an article about contemplative prayer practices, I’ve been doing some thinking and biblical searching. Before I start, I need to say that the area of prayer is one that I am working on. I am not trying to say I know everything about prayer. I also am very convicted while doing this study that I do not take concentrated time to pray often enough. Being a mom with two school age children and a baby that is up before the sun most days can make finding blocks of time for prayer challenging. But I am working on that area of my life. I do take the time every day to read my Bible, and I know I ought to be praying more as well. This is not a theological dissertation level presentation on prayer. This is one stay-at-home mom’s honest attempt to be like the Bereans and search the scripture during a time when many differing methods and ideas about prayer are being brought into the church, and we need to be discerning.

People in our culture today seem to be searching for “spirituality.” That can have all kinds of definitions depending on who is using the term. Something that is becoming more and more mainstream within the evangelical community is the idea of contemplative prayer. I’ve looked at some of the discernment ministries’ discussions of this phenomenon, and I am concerned by how similar it is to the transcendental meditation methods of the Eastern religions. Many of these ministries’ articles are written by people who were heavily involved in transcendental meditation before coming to Christ and being delivered from error, so they are more aware of subtle meanings of terms being used by the contemplatives that I might miss, having no experience with mysticism or New Age practices. Specifically troubling to me are the discussions of “breath prayer” and “entering the silence” and focusing on one word from a passage of scripture and finding the unique meaning of that word for you personally and meditating on that one word and using it as a sort of mantra.

While I wonder if some of the Christian people who use some of these terms may not mean the same thing that Eastern mysticism does by them, I believe they are playing with fire. We need to be precise with our vocabulary. If we are using the same terms that pagan religious practices use, we’d better be very clear what we mean. So, in light of these concerns, I have gone to the Bible to see what our Lord taught about prayer.

During the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 6, Jesus first instructed his disciples in some things not to do while praying: 1.) Not to be like the hypocrites, praying standing in the synagogue or on the street so that they would be seen by men (this was the primary motivation). He said, rather, that they should go into their room and pray in secret, get alone with God, motivation is praying to God, not being seen by others (there are times in the Bible, too where corporate prayer is modeled, but this is specifically addressing personal prayer); 2.) Not to use vain repetitions as the pagans do. I believe the mantra type of clearing the mind of all but one word (even if that word came from a Bible passage) and repeating it over and over falls in this category. More on that in a minute.

Then Jesus gave His disciples a model prayer: (All the scripture references I use are the NKJV)
Matthew 6:9-13
“In this manner, therefore, pray:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Amen.

Not to belabor the fact, but nowhere here does Jesus begin to go on and talk about “breath prayers” or “breathing God in and my sin out” or anything like that. He simply modeled for His followers how to talk to God, for that is what prayer is. First, He focused on to Whom He prayed. Then He spoke words of praise and recognition of His holiness and sovereignty, and our prayer that God’s will be done. He acknowledged that our sustenance for daily life comes from God. He modeled that we are to ask forgiveness for sin (though Jesus had no sin of which to be forgiven, He showed us how to ask for our forgiveness), and He stressed that we are to be forgiving of others. He modeled that we are to recognize that we are vulnerable to temptation and to ask God to deliver us. Then the prayer ends with acknowledgement of God’s sovereignty and glory. This prayer was given as a model of how we are to pray. Not that we are to vainly repeat these words like some mystical formula, but that we would know how to talk to God.

Something else I’d like to point out is Matthew 22:37 “Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’” Notice, we are to love Him with our MIND. This implies active involvement, not an emptying of all thought, as is taught in the contemplative model. When we pray and think on God’s word, we ought to be using our mind and learning what the passage we study means. Along these lines, I add that words have meaning, and they have meaning in context. We must understand the context of a passage we are studying, not focus on one word alone. The passage always goes with its context. There is nothing biblical about saying a word over and over and over until we have gone into another state of consciousness. I do not see this advocated anywhere in scripture! (Not all Christian authors I’ve read take their methods this far, but with imprecise language, the door is left open a crack for less discerning people to be led into error when teachers come along who do advocate a deep meditation that opens up the practitioner to spiritual deception.) Instead, in the book of Acts I see believers being encouraged to be like the Bereans who searched the scriptures to see if what they were being told was true. No where does it say they took a passage and read it slowly to wait for one word to jump out and then focus on that one word and search for meaning in it alone. I do not mean to imply there is anything wrong with reading a passage slowly or rereading a passage to try to get your mind around what it means. I’m talking about approaching a passage with some mystical expectation of enlightenment meant only for you. I know that God can and does use passages to teach us things we need to hear, but it is not through taking one word and repeating it over and over. It is through conviction that in some way our life is not lining up with what we’re reading and we need to change or that we need to put into practice what we are reading in our daily life.

I have read the verse in Romans 8:26 that says, “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” This, however, is not in response to our entering a mindless silence and waiting on His groanings. Rather, it is an ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit on our behalf because He knows we do not know what we should pray. This is a glimpse of His mercy and grace, for even in striving to pray as we ought, we do not know how, so He intercedes for us. There have been times in my life, also, when I’ve been distressed and unable to pray a coherent prayer, and quoting scripture was a great comfort at those times, and sometimes all I could manage to say was, "I will bless the Lord at all times," or "Help, Lord, I feel so overwhelmed." I know that the Holy Spirit did intercede for me, even when I couldn’t voice my prayer, but I did not look for some mystical experience from the words of scripture He used to comfort me, I just expressed my faith that He is in control. I am deeply grateful for the grace He grants us, and that I don't have to word every prayer exactly right. But I do want to be careful to avoid areas that I know would not be pleasing to Him or that would seek to incorporate pagan methods to come to Him.

Also, as I’ve looked in the Old Testament, anytime prayers are recorded or talked about we don’t see someone repeating a mantra and going into a silence of emptied thought. The Psalms are also recorded prayers. In none of them do I see the type of meditation advocated that is being taught through the contemplative prayer movement, which basically looks to be a form of transcendental meditation with Christianized terms layered on top. Psalm 46:10 says: “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” The first part of this verse is often used by those advocating we “enter the silence.” But I am looking at the context of this verse, and it is not the silent, empty the mind of all thought kind of stillness that is being talked about. For the context, read all of Psalm 46. It is a discussion of how God is the refuge of His people, while the nations are raging. As the nations war and rage, God says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Point being, He is sovereign even over the nations, and He will still their rebellion. Another point being, His people do not need to panic, for He WILL be exalted in all the earth. Again, to use this as an invitation to enter the silence of Eastern meditation is a faulty reading of this verse.

As to the idea of “breath prayers,” I admit I’m not sure what some of the Christian authors mean. If all they mean is praying quick prayers throughout the day as God brings things to mind, then I don’t see a problem with that. I do pray that way often. When the name of a friend I’ve been praying for crosses my mind, I often stop what I’m doing and go to God again. Or when I see a beautiful sunset, I might stop and thank God for the beautiful world He has made. And I often quote scripture verses and pray throughout the day. But there is nothing mystical in my breath, and I don’t quote them with a supernatural belief that the words themselves have power over my situation like a magical charm. I’m just talking to God throughout the day, trying to maintain an attitude of prayer and to order my thoughts biblically. However, if something else is meant, then it warrants closer scrutiny. I think this is one area we need to be very specific about what we mean.


Hebrews 12:28-29 “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.”
Because our God is a consuming fire, it is important that we offer acceptable worship and not allow ourselves to partner with darkness that would masquerade as light. The contemplative prayer model is basically repackaged Eastern mysticism, and that opens people to real spiritual forces of darkness. We must steer clear of paganism and offer undefiled worship to our God. I believe many Christians who are exploring this method have good intentions and really want to be closer to God, and I also think that not all of them have totally advocated the emptying of our minds, for many talk about filling the mind with scripture (which is a good thing to do), but I pray they will do some searching and look at the roots of the contemplative method. I’m just saying we need to be very careful to define our terms scripturally and not yoke ourselves with questionable practices or open the door for error by not being careful. Uzzah had good intentions, too, when he put out his hand to steady the Ark of the Covenant as it slipped from the cart on which it was being carried (not God’s prescribed method of transporting it, by the way), but God struck him dead for touching the Ark. Read it for yourself in 2 Samuel 6.

Also, it seems in reading about some of the contemplative models that the practitioners are seeking closeness with God and inner peace. In Philippians 4:6 it says, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding , will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Again, we're not being taught some mind-emptying approach to prayer. We're being taught to come to Him with thanksgiving and bring our requests before Him. And He will guard our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. I am so thankful that He will guard my heart and mind, for I know my heart can be deceitful. We are not being taught to adopt some method for finding "stillness."

So, as for me, I will seek to pray as our Lord taught us and diligently seek to avoid all appearance of evil. And I’ll try to be careful in the terms I use, as well. I’m also not saying we will all look and sound like little robots in our praying. There is much freedom within the model we are given to express our prayers from our various personalities, so long as we do not engage in practices that would mix false worship methods with true. I do believe that prayer is just talking to God. I don't think we have to narrowly follow a formula each time we pray, but we should keep our prayers within the parameters of what the Lord taught about it. I don't think there is anything wrong with short prayers throughout the day, but we must always, always approach God with an attitude of reverence and thanksgiving for His awesome grace, recognizing that it really is all about Him. When I began thinking seriously about the high cost Jesus paid on the cross that allowed me, through faith in Christ, the privilege of entering the court of Heaven with my prayers, it changed how I thought about prayer. It has made me much more reverent in how I come before Him, but I am also thankful for His grace which allows me to talk to Him personally and to be able to know Him as my heavenly Father. I also freely admit that there are things about prayer I don’t understand, and I want to keep learning, within the bounds of scripture.