Posted on by Kurt Bodling

losing focus while in prayer

“In my day I have prayed many such canonical hours myself, regrettably, and in such a manner that the psalm or the allotted time came to an end before I even realized whether I was at the beginning or in the middle. … But, praise God, it is now clear to me that a person who forgets what he has said has not prayed well. In a good prayer one fully remembers every word and thought from the beginning to the end of the prayer.” 

Luther, Martin. “A Simple Way to Pray” (1535) Luther’s Works Vol. 43. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969, page 199.

Comment: Our minds wander all the time. Even when we are in prayer or at worship or during a sermon. (Try especially not to let that happen when you are leading prayers and worship, or preaching!) In prayer times, if you get to the end – however you are measuring that – and can’t really remember what you said, there is good reason to question just what you’ve been doing. This may well mean that you shouldn’t pray for too long a time. It could be like advice for study or exercise: repeated short periods of time are usually more helpful than long stretches.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

changes in solitude

"It is even possible that in solitude I shall return to my beginning and rediscover the value and perfection of simple vocal prayer–and take greater joy in this than in contemplation.

“So that the cenobite may have high contemplation, while the hermit has only his Pater and Ave Maria. In that event I choose the life of a hermit in which I live in God always, speaking to Him with simplicity, rather than a life of disjointed activity sublimated by a few moments of fire and exaltation.”

Merton, Thomas. Thoughts in Solitude. NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1958. (pbk ed 1999), p.110.

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God speaks, we listen

“To ‘listen to God,’ then, is not merely to hear God. It also requires that we pay attention to God’s words and ‘treasure all these things and ponder them in our heart’ (cf. Luke 2:19, 51). Moreover, God’s call does not always come to us in words; indeed, this would be the exception, rather than the rule. God speaks to us especially through events.”

Okumura, Augustine Ichiro. Awakening to Prayer. Translated by Theresa Kazue Hiraki and Albert Masaru Yamato. Washington, DC: ICS Publications, Institute of Carmelite Studies, 1994, p. 36.

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suffering and power

“Now the plain truth is that he who has never been tried by suffering and has never experienced the power of the Word of God to give strength, cannot know the true purport of this petition [i.e., “Give us this day our daily bread”]. Such comfort cannot appeal to him, for he has known and tasted only his own and other creatures’ comfort and aid. He has never drunk a cup of woe to the dregs and been disconsolate.”

Luther, Martin. “An Exposition of the Lord’s Prayer for Simple Laymen” (1519) Luther’s Works Vol. 42. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969, page 53.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

presence of God

“God is everywhere. The purpose of meditation and prayer is to become aware of that presence and live in relationship with God. It is not so much that ‘God fills us,’ even though scripture uses that language to describe it from our perspective. God is already here. We simply enter into a relationship by being in the Presence of the One who Is.”

Talbot, John Michael. The World is My Cloister: Living From the Hermit Within. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2010, page 107.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

can whistling be prayer?

“All teachers of the Scriptures conclude that prayer is nothing else than lifting up the heart or mind to God. But if the lifting up of the heart constitutes the essence and nature of prayer, it follows that everything else which does not invite the lifting of the heart is not prayer. Therefore, singing, talking, and whistling, when devoid of the sincere uplifting of the heart, are as unlike prayer as scarecrows in the garden are unlike human beings. The essence is wanting; only the appearance and name are present.”

Luther, Martin. “An Exposition of the Lord’s Prayer for Simple Laymen” (1519) Luther’s Works Vol. 42. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969, page 25.

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prayer is not obsolete

“It’s important to remember, however, that contemplation does not make other ways of praying obsolete or superfluous. If we abandon the more word-centric ways of praying, we are acting like sailors who launch a boat into the open sea without bothering to bring a compass or a GPS. Contemplative prayer needs to be anchored in an overall spiritual practice just as a successful journey needs to be guided by useful and effective navigation tools.”

McColman, Carl. The New Big Book of Christian Mysticism: an Essential Guide to Contemplative Spirituality. Minneapolis: Broadleaf Books, 2023, pp. 286-287.

Comment: Bear in mind that the Irish monks of old launched their coracles without compass or GPS. Bear in mind that they were making an act of faith. Bear in mind that abandoning your “more word-centric ways of praying” might be an act of faith on your part.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

praying the 10 Commandments

[The 10 Commandments] "are intended to help the heart come to itself and grow zealous in prayer. Take care, however, not to undertake all of this or so much that one becomes weary in spirit. Likewise, a good prayer should not be lengthy or drawn out, but frequent and ardent. It is enough to consider one section or half a section which kindles a fire in the heart. This the Spirit will grant us and continually instruct us in when, by God’s word, our hearts have been cleared and freed of outside thoughts and concerns.

“Nothing can be said here about the part of faith and Holy Scriptures [in prayer] because there would be no end to what could be said. With practice one can take the Ten Commandments on one day, a psalm or chapter of Holy Scripture the next day, and use them as flint and steel to kindle a flame in the heart.”

Luther, Martin. “A Simple Way to Pray” (1535) Luther’s Works Vol. 43. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969, page 209)

Comment: Prayers shouldn’t be wordy, wearisome affairs. Make them short. Let them set your heart on fire. And (although he doesn’t use the Latin phrase) use lectio divina. Why don’t more Lutheran pastors know this and teach this? Because they haven’t read it and been taught it, I suppose. When I was in seminary, other concerns were at the forefront.

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a view of prayer

“The final dynamic of spiritual disciplines is prayer. Prayer is the outgrowth of both silence and solitude. In silence we let go of our manipulative control. In solitude we face up to what we are in the depths of our being. Prayer then becomes the offering of who we are to God: the giving of that broken, unclean, grasping, manipulative self to God for the work of God’s grace in our lives.”

Mulholland, M. Robert, Jr. Invitation to a Journey: A Road Map for Spiritual Formation. Foreword, Practices and Study Guide by Ruth Haley Barton. Expanded edition. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2016, p. 161.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

presence of God

“God is everywhere. The purpose of meditation and prayer is to become aware of that presence and live in relationship with God. It is not so much that ‘God fills us,’ even though scripture uses that language to describe it from our perspective. God is already here. We simply enter into a relationship by being in the Presence of the One who Is.”

Talbot, John Michael. The World is My Cloister: Living From the Hermit Within. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2010, page 107.