Prayer Study Part 6

What is Formation Prayer?
•A process of transformation in which our lives increasingly mirror the Son’s
•Formation prayer begins when our simple prayers are not answered in the way we expect
•We begin a process of change called conversatio morum or death of the status quo

•Prayer is only one element in the process of Christian formation
•Formation prayer is both an active and passive process
•We are both pursuing God and being pursued by God

Model One-- The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola
•Week 1–Contemplate our sins in the light of the love of Christ
•Week 2—Focus on the life of Christ and earnestly seek to conform our lives to his
•Week 3—Contemplate the passion of Christ and seek to die to our own idolatries
•Week 4—Contemplate the resurrection of Christ and seek the power of the Spirit to live our lives in conformity with Christ’s

Model Two—St. Benedict’s Rule
•Composed of 12 steps toward humility
•“Humility means to live as close to the truth as possible”
•Reverence God in daily life
•Confess any sinful thought or action to God
•Do God’s will instead of our own
•Cultivate silence in place of idle speech
•Use plain, simple speech
•Endure “with patience the injuries and afflictions we face”
•“Be content in all things”

Model Three--The Little Way
•Based on the approach of St. Therese of Lisieux
•“To seek out the menial job, to welcome unjust criticisms, to befriend those who annoy us, to help those who are ungrateful”
•A way of life that anyone can engage in everyday

Solitude
•Will be viewed by others as selfish and slothful
•We learn to let go of the opinions of others
•Our true self is unmasked
•“Solitude gives us the power not to win the rat race but to ignore the rat race altogether.”
Other Ways to do Formation Prayer
•Contemplate our own death
•Brings humility
•Best done in light of Gal. 2:19—what does it mean to be crucified with Christ?
•Practice the prayer of docility
•Surrender ourselves to the hands of God, the potter
•A bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench. Isaiah 42:3

Prayer Study- Part 5- Prayer of Relinquishment

The Spirit teaches me to yield my will entirely to the will of the Father. He opens my ear to wait in great gentleness and teachableness of soul for what the Father has day by day to speak and to teach. He discovers to me how union with God’s will is union with God Himself; how entire surrender to God’s will is the Father’s claim, the Son’s example, and the true blessedness of the soul.
Andrew Murray


• At some point Christians move from a childish, demanding prayer to relinquishment
• Like falling into the arms of Jesus in total trust (e.g. tea commercial)
• End result of this prayer brings us into soul satisfying rest

The School of Gethsemane

• Jesus’ prayer in the garden reflects both his desire that the cup pass and relinquishment that God’s will be done Luke 22:39-46. “Can people be redeemed in any other way?” “No”
• In the way of relinquishment, “My will be done” is subsumed by “not my will”
• My will my way must yield to higher authority

The Process of Relinquishment
• Struggle is an intimate part of relinquishment
• Abraham relinquished Isaac and with him the Promise itself
• Paul relinquished his desire for greater health (more)
• Relinquishment is not resignation. Christin prayer not fatlism
• We are not locked into a preset, determinist future. Dialogue with God.
• Severing the precious roots. Release with hope and trust in the character of God
• Sometimes what we relinquish may be returned to us
• Sometimes what we relinquish needs to die so that God can accomplish his purposes through us. Settled peace (p53)
• Crucifixtion of the will.
• I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Gal. 2:19b-20
• “God creates everything out of nothing—and everything which God is to use he first reduces to nothing.” Kierkegaard
• “Crucifixion always has resurrection tied to it. God is not destroying the will but transforming it so that over a process of time and experience we can freely will what God wills.”
• A.W. Tozar ..freedom from the self-sins: self sufficiency, self-pity, self-absorption, sel-abuse, self-indulgence, self-deprecation (more)

Practicing the Prayer of Relinquishment
• Begin with the prayer of kenosis (self-emptying) in Philippians 2:5-11
• Practice the prayer of surrender asking Jesus to interpret “not my will” for your life
• Practice the prayer of abandonment –into God’s hands
• Practice the prayer of release, placing all that you hold dear into the Father’s care as well as your enemies, anger, fears and thoughts of retaliation
• Practice the prayer of resurrection, asking God to restore whatever would advance the kingdom of God

Prayer Study Part 4-Prayer of Tears

Continuing with our study begun a few weeks ago, of Richard Foster's book, "Prayer-Finding the Hearts True Home." The book examines a number of different types of prayer.


Tears are like blood in the wounds of the soul.
Gregory of NyssaPenthos-

• A broken and contrite heart
• Inward godly sorrow
• Holy sorrow
• The prayer of tears
• Keenly felt sorrow over our sin and distance from God

The Experience of Our Forebears

• Early American missionary David Brainard wrote of his tearful repentance in his journal
• O that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I might weep day and night for the slain of my poor people! Jer. 9:1
• I am weary with my moaning every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. Psalm 6:6
• Others pp 38-39

An Experience of Joy

• The “charism of tears”
• In earlier times, those with dry eyes and cold hearts were pitied
• Contrition and repentance is accompanied by deep joy in our relationship to God

What the Prayer of Tears Does

• God wishes to touch all aspects of our lives, including our emotions
• Tears are an indication that God has reached us emotionally
• Because we are sinners and separated from God (original sin), the prayer of tears aids us in acknowledging this
• Martin Luther recommended living a life of daily repentance
• Death and resurrection of Jesus Christ makes this type of repentance possible

Elements of Contrition

• Seek repentance as a gift from God– Jesus prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
• Confess
• Receive God’s gift of forgiveness
• Obey- Obedience not just avoidance of wrongdoing, but the pursuit of virtue

When We Cannot Weep

• Be both firm and friendly with yourself. Don’t let yourself off with “I’m not the emotional type.”
• “I am a rock I am an island” mentality was not taken on overnight nor will it be overcome overnight
• Shed tears inwardly
“The fire of sin is intense, but it is put out by a small amount of tears, for the tear puts out a furnace of faults, and cleans our wounds of sin.”John Chrysostom