Philip Yancey, Prayer: Does It Make a Difference?

[* irenic *]

Hi my netfriends,

Please accept the following as a 'Christmas gift' from Jan and myself.
Perhaps use these questions for reflection/journaling sometime during this
holiday-season

~~~

Philip Yancey, Prayer: Does It Make a Difference? (Hodder).

This was sent to me to review about September, but rather than doing a
critical piece on Yancey's excellent ('research-heavy') new book, I thought
I'd post instead these 'Ideas to Ponder' I collected as I slowly read it
over the last couple of months:

* Hans Kung's theological tome 'On Being a Christian', 702 pages long, did
not include a chapter or even an index entry on prayer... (My response: Why
not?)

* When a journalist asked Thomas Merton to diagnose the leading spiritual
disease of our time, he gave a one-word answer: efficiency. Why? 'From the
monastery to the Pentagon, the plant has to run... and there is little time
or energy left after that to do anything else...' (How does that apply to
the pastoral vocation?)

* Ole Hallesby settled on the single word 'helplessness' as the best summary
of the heart attitude that God accepts as prayer... 'Only the one who is
helpless can truly pray'. (Where does that leave self-starters/ Enneagram
5's/ INTJ's like me?)

* Yancey: 'If I had to answer the question "Why Pray?" in one sentence, it
would be "Because Jesus did".' (Reminds me of Jacques Ellul's answer to the
same question in 'Prayer and Modern Man': 'Why pray? Because Jesus told us
to...' Is that a better answer than Yancey's?)

* A spiritual seeker interrupted a busy life to spend a few days in a
monastery. 'I hope your stay is a blessed one,' said the monk who showed the
visitor to his cell. 'If you need anything, let us know and we'll teach you
how to live without it.' (I took several books to read on my first
(eight-day silent) retreat in a monastery).

* 'Lord heare! / Shall he that made the eare, / Not heare?' (George
Herbert). (Good question, addressed to God 'From [whom] all pitie flows...'
Read the whole poem, it's very moving -
http://www.ccel.org/h/herbert/temple/Longing.html ).

* Twelve-step groups sometimes toss around the saying 'Coincidence is God's
way of protecting his anonymity'. (I don't think Yancey used William
Temple's famous quote "When I pray coincidences happen; when I don't they
don't", probably because Yancey is mildly agnostic about very many purported
miracles happening as a result of prayer).

* Richard Rohr, founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation says 'I
have often told folks that the most important word in our title is not
"action" or even "contemplation" but "and". (And why did he put "Action"
before "Contemplation"?)

* C S Lewis sums up the drama of human history as one 'in which the scene
and the general outline of the story is fixed by the Author, but certain
minor details are left for the actors to improvise. It may be a mystery why
He should have allowed us to cause real events at all; but it is no odder
that He should allow us to cause them by praying than by any other method.'
(Calvin mightn't agree...)

* As the books of Job, Jeremiah and Habakkuk clearly show, God has a high
threshold of tolerance for what is appropriate to say in a prayer.
(Emotionally/spiritually mature people can 'forgive God' and deal with their
anger against God - http://www.case.edu/pubaff/univcomm/disappoint.htm )

* One of the masters of prayer, Teresa of Avila, admits to shaking the sand
in her 16th century hourglass to make the hour go faster (so there's hope
for the rest of us)

* Yancey: 'I know of no recorded healing of cystic fibrosis' (nor of
pancreatic cancer which has a 100% mortality rate, nor the replacement of an
amputated limb). Dr Paul Brand devoted his life to the treatment of leprosy,
and never met a single patient who claimed to be cured miraculously of
leprosy... and 'No case I have treated personally would meet the rigorous
criteria for a supernatural miracle.' (Why not, if Jesus raised the dead and
healed someone born blind...? Evangelical leader John Stott gets into
trouble with Pentecostals/Charismatics by suggesting we are not meant to
expect those sorts of miracles today)

* Someone asked Gandhi, 'If you were given the power to remake the world,
what would you do first?' He replied: 'I would pray for power to renounce
that power' (now, honest, would that have been my response? Nope!)

* George Chen, arrested for his 'barefoot evangelism' activities in China,
found a most unlikely prayer closet while serving an eighteen-year sentence
with hard labour. Guards forced him to work in the prison cesspool, where he
spent his days knee-deep in human waste, turning it with a shovel to make
compost. 'They thought I'd be miserable, but actually I was happy,' said
Chen. 'It smelled so bad that no one could come near me, so I could pray and
sing aloud all day.' (May God give us ears to hear persecuted Christians
singing in prisons today/tonight in 40-50 countries. See eg.
http://www.breakpoint.org/listingarticle.asp?ID=2513 )

* Yancey: 'When I pray for another person, I am praying for God to open my
eyes so that I can see that person as God does, and then enter into the
stream of love that God already directs towards that person'. (Yancey finds
some aspects of praying hard work, but that idea is his best, I reckon).

Buy this excellent book for someone to whom you wish to give a belated
Christmas present!

-- --

Shalom! Rowland Croucher

'It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know
for sure that just ain't so' (Mark Twain)

http://jmm.aaa.net.au/ - 18,700 articles/ 4000 humour

[surety]

* Someone asked Gandhi, 'If you were given the power to remake the
world,
what would you do first?' He replied: 'I would pray for power to
renounce
that power' (now, honest, would that have been my response? Nope!)


I am a little confused with the Ghandi quote. Why does Yancy(?) quote
Ghandi on prayer who has no access to God which comes only through the
sacrifice of Christ Jesus?

-richard

[* irenic *]

Post by * irenic *
* Someone asked Gandhi, 'If you were given the power to remake the world,
what would you do first?' He replied: 'I would pray for power to renounce
that power' (now, honest, would that have been my response? Nope!)
I am a little confused with the Ghandi quote. Why does Yancy(?) quote
Ghandi on prayer who has no access to God which comes only through the
sacrifice of Christ Jesus?

Richard, the quote is there somewhere, in the 340 pages: you'll have to take
my word for that, as Yancey has no index...

What's your reaction to Gandhi's reaction?

But your point is, I think, that Yancey - or any other Christian writer -
should never quote anyone who is not a Christian. Is that what you're
implying? Would you say the same of the biblical writers? (Careful...)

[!!]

Post by * irenic *
Hi my netfriends,
Please accept the following as a 'Christmas gift' from Jan and myself.
Perhaps use these questions for reflection/journaling sometime during this
holiday-season
~~~
Philip Yancey, Prayer: Does It Make a Difference? (Hodder).

...>

I found this prayer guideline for you. :-)
The Five Finger Prayer

this is so neat. Just received it in my email so I thought I'd post it
here. I had never heard this before...This is beautiful - and it is
surely worth making the 5 finger prayer a part of our lives.


1. Your thumb is nearest you. So begin your prayers by praying for
those closest to you. They are the easiest to remember. To pray for our
loved ones is, as C. S. Lewis once said, a "sweet duty."

2. The next finger is the pointing finger. Pray for those who teach,
instruct and heal. This includes teachers, doctors, and ministers. They
need support and wisdom in pointing others in the right direction. Keep
them in your prayers.

3. The next finger is the tallest finger. It reminds us of our leaders.
Pray for the president, leaders in business and industry, and
administrators. These people shape our nation and guide public opinion.
They need God's guidance.

4. The fourth finger is our ring finger. Surprising to many is the fact
that this is our weakest finger; as any piano teacher will testify. It
should remind us to pray for those who are weak, in trouble or in pain.
Also pray for Christian marriages to last till death. They need your
prayers day and night. You cannot pray too much for them.

5. And lastly comes our little finger; the smallest finger of all which
is where we should place ourselves in relation to God and others. As
the Bible says, "The least shall be the greatest among you." Your
pinkie should remind you to pray for yourself. By the time you have
prayed for the other four groups, your own needs will be put into
proper perspective and you will be able to pray for yourself more
effectively