Today Timothy Keller discusses the second and third touchstones of prayer in Chapter 9 of Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God.
2. Prayer is conversing with God- responding to the Word. Pastor Keller notes that “to walk with” someone in the Bible is to have a friendship, since people talk as they walk together. When we pray in Jesus’ name and in the power of the Holy Spirit, we have free communication with God.
The author states that there are two ways of understanding prayer as dialogue:
a. responding to God’s voice discerned subjectively within the heart
b. God primarily speaking to us through the Scripture (Pastor Keller advocates following this understanding)
J. I. Packer concludes that once we understand prayer as conversation, we must be intentional in linking thoughtful, scriptural meditation with prayer.
3. Prayer is a balanced interaction of praise, confession, thanks and petition. Pastor Keller asserts that the Lord’s Prayer and the Psalter show that all four dimensions of prayer are crucial to use. Each of the forms is necessary for the others. They interact with and stimulate one another. The author concludes:
“The more we see of God’s power, the more we will want to depend on him for all our needs. All these ways of praying to God should be present, interactive, and balanced when we pray.”
Today’s question: How would you describe the current state of your communication with God? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: the new Short Meditation, “The control wheel”
