In our western culture, we live in a world that is rich in almost everything, except clarity in the area of spirituality.  It is not easy to know how we should live out what is essential within our lives of faith. Concretely, what should we be doing?  To whom should be we listening?  Even though we may have accepted a creed, been baptized into the church, and are familiar with the Bible, we are still constantly subjected to voices calling us in different directions.  Daily, we face a perplexing series of questions: Is this important or not? Is this something of substance, or just a fad? Will this endure, or will it pass away?  Must I get involved in this, or can I choose to ignore it?  Is this church and is this teaching right or wrong, or relevant to my life?  Is this something essential, or merely accidental?

This is why being spiritually fit is necessary for both a healthy church and a healthy faith life.  This sermon is the first in a series turning our attention to the marks of discipleship ­ which help us to discern God’s truth and live a life of faithful witness.

At one point in his ministry Jesus specifies three clear components to discipleship: Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.  For him, these were non-negotiable anchors of the spiritual life.  Prayer meant private prayer, keeping the commandments and praying in common with others.  Private prayer also included personal moral integrity.

Prayer is the first mark of discipleship, a non-negotiable pillar of spiritual life. Firstly, because our faith is at heart about our relationship with a real God, and prayer is the most intimate relationship we can have. Jesus had a personal relationship with God through prayer. Often the Bible tells us he went off to pray alone, to talk with, seek advice, and listen to Abba, God. Frequently Jesus told his disciples to “pray in secret” (that is privately).

Praying, and developing a personal relationship with God was not optional for Jesus.  Furthermore, in Jesus’ mind having a personal relationship with God, is not a question of whether he felt like having one or not, but of keeping the commandments:  “If anyone loves me, he or she will keep my commandments.” Moreover, he encouraged his disciples to have a private, personal relationship with him, and through him, with God.

In our Christian past, both prayer, and a personal relationship with Jesus were central to the Spiritual Mothers and Fathers of our tradition. But for all kinds of reasons, many Christians in our culture, and liberal Christians in particular, do not share this view. Within liberal Christianity and in secular culture there is a fear that this is dangerous.  To speak of a personal relationship with Jesus today is to run the danger of being called a fundamentalist.

I must admit I fall into this category myself.  When I hear people speaking of a personal relationship with Jesus, I begin to squirm. There are real dangers in an over-privatization of spirituality.  The spiritual life is not just about “Jesus and I.”    However, there are equal dangers in not having enough “Jesus and I” within our spiritual lives.  The danger of not having a proper intimacy with God and the personal moral fidelity to back up our faith is that we turn Christianity into a philosophy, an ideology, and a moral code, but ultimately we miss what Christianity is all about, a relationship with a real person.

The same is true with prayer.  If we refuse to take prayer seriously, the first pillar of the spiritual life, we will continue to go through the motions of having a relationship with God; but eventually find ourselves both empty and angry, feeling cheated, and struggling with the temptation of either becoming ever more bitter or of chucking it all.

Prayer is our fundamental relationship with God, a state of attention to God, involving the whole personality.  In prayer we stand before God with our “minds in our hearts,” integrating mind and heart into one center.

Prayer is also daring to know ourselves so that we can truly find God.  At the heart of all spiritual discipline is the search for self-knowledge.   To go deep into our own being is an essential step in learning to pray. Thomas Merton defined prayer as “an awareness of one’s inner self.”

It is a two step journey.  Going deep into ourselves is only half the journey.  We don’t stop at self-knowledge.   We must continue on beyond the self, to God, the deepest centre of consciousness.  But without beginning the journey of self-discovery, there is no further progress.  In order to find God, whom we can only find in and through the depths of our own soul, we must first find ourselves.   Without such self-knowledge, our love remains superficial.

In Psalm 130, the psalmist cries to God from the depths of his soul.  The Greek word for depths is bathos.  A bathysphere is a watertight steel ball with observation windows, lowered by cables from a ship and used to study deep-sea life.  I think of prayer as a bathysphere, taking us to the depths of our soul where we face our raw humanity, and there, in the midst of all that find God.

When we dive into ourselves, into our souls we discover the stairs by which to ascend.  The paradox is that this journey is inward; the process of self-discovery is at the same time inseparable from personal relationships.  It is through the encounter with others that we grow in self-knowledge.  Growth cannot occur in a vacuum and so relationship with other people; community, is important.

There is another reason why prayer is so important.  All through the Bible, we are told to watch and pray, watch and pray. The commandment to pray constantly is constantly renewed.  Pray keeps us awake to listening for God and to following Jesus' path of justice and mercy.   Jesus tells the parable of the Widow and the Unjust Judge to show the need to pray constantly.  At the end of the parable, he asks, “when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”  We pray because God tells us to pray.  The maintenance of our faith depends upon prayer.

This journey of self-discovery, into our humanity and outward to God, takes time and practice if we are to grow in our spiritual lives as disciples of Christ.  Every bearer of the word of God in the Bible was a person of prayer: Abraham, Hanna, Miriam, Moses, David, Mary, Martha.  Each bequeathed to us a style of prayer and a model of the relationship with God, which is unique and yet available to each of us.

This is why daily prayer is the first mark of discipleship, and a non-negotiable element of faith.
It must include silent prayer. The purpose of the silence is to allow the heart to be still and to listen to God.  We place our minds in our hearts and lay aside thought.  I am inviting you to join me regularly in Centering Prayer.

Brenda Faust.
 
 

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