Prayer

 

 

Prayer.

 

Talking with The Father.

 

Sharing your heart with the Lord.

 

Appealing for forgiveness.

 

Begging for mercy.

 

Pleading for healing.

 

Petitioning for lost souls.

 

Supplication.

 

1 Thessalonians 5:17 "pray without ceasing"

 

James 5:16 "...pray for one another..."

 

Jude 20 "...praying in the Holy Spirit..."

 

*sigh*

 

It should be so easy.

 

I mean, I have been doing this ALL my life.  Prayer should be second nature to me...it should be first nature.  I shouldn't have to continually struggle with my prayer life.

 

But I do.

 

And I always have.

 

I desire to be like the widow in Luke 18, praying with such persistence.

I have tried many things.  While a Protestant I have been in classes and read books on all aspects of prayer: praying through scripture, posture of prayer, methods of prayer, accountability partners, prayer groups, prayer vigils, the power of the praying this or that...

 

 We have even built prayer rooms in both of our houses....yet they get filled with clutter.

 

It is embarrassing to confess that even as the wife of a minister, our prayer life as husband and wife has been almost completely nonexistent.  I confessed this to a minister friend, sharing how personal prayer is and how difficult it was for Josh and I to pray so intimately with each other.  His answer.."Well it wasn't hard getting naked in front of each other.."  OUCH! 

Why should prayer be any different?

 

I have to admit, I was very hesitant of Orthodox prayer.  Rote prayer?  How boring!  How confining! How heartless! 

 

And yet, here I find myself, as an Orthodox Christian, praying rote prayers; stirring, unconfined and heart filled prayers.

 

Our Father, which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth,
As it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,

The power, and the glory,

of the Father, and of the Son,

and of the Holy Spirit, 

Both now and ever,

and unto ages of ages. 

Amen.

 

The reminder of living on the basics, our daily bread, and being content.

 

Have you ever repeatedly prayed for those who trespass against you?  It is humbling.

 

Daily asking to not be lead into temptation but to be delivered.

 
Our own Lord, Jesus Christ, gave us the perfect example of prayer, why would we not choose to pray as He did?
 

Doors have been opened up to me through the Orthodox church regarding prayer that I never imagined.  Prayer is central to the Orthodox life. As an Orthodox Christian, in an attempt to attain Theosis, one strives to "pray without ceasing."  Though this is not an easy task, there are a plethora of resources that help!

 

My first attempts at prayer as an Orthodox Christian began with Evening Prayers.  In the back of all Orthodox Bibles there is a section for Morning Prayers and Evening Prayers.  I began saying these prayers in bed each night.  I quickly learned that you are not meant to be tied down to the prayers on the pages.  I love how Deacon Michael Hyatt explains them as more of a "warm up" to your own prayers in his podcast series based on Anthony Blooms Beginning to Pray.   Seeing them as a guide, and not something I was bound to, relieved much of my hesitancy. 
 

Once I realized that Evening Prayers were doable, I broached the next big road block: Josh.  The familiarity and orderliness of the prayers made praying with my husband so much easier.  "Warming up" with rote prayers helped me to open my heart in prayer and lose the fear of embarrassment of praying in front of my spouse. 
 

We have now reached a point in our lives that we all pray as a family in the evenings.  We all gather in front of our Icon Corner, light a candle, and say our prayers.  Our daughters are quickly memorizing the rote prayers and we often have them take turns praying for us.  We also like to have time to pray whats on our heart, which even Sydney insists in joining. 

What started with fear has now become one of the most valued parts of our family's day.

Tangent #1  Our Icon Corner is pictured above.  It is a collection of Icon's that hold something dear to our heart.  On top we have Jesus, Jesus Crucified and Jesus Resurrected.  In the middle we have St. Joshua (obviously Josh picked this one out), The Wedding at Cana (to represent our marriage), and St. Emilia (whom I picked out and enjoy getting to know better day by day).  On the bottom row we have a Guardian Angel, St. Sophia and her daughters Faith, Hope and Love (for our children), and Jesus the Good Shepherd.  This collection of Icons represents our "Heavenly prayer group."  Just as I had friends over once a week to have a prayer group, I have my "Great cloud of witnesses" as mentioned in Hebrews 12.  They're my buddies, I know I can relate to them, and while I pray, it gives me comfort to know that they have experienced many similiar things and survived through it. 
  

 Once we became Catachumens, our Priest urged us to come to as many church services as possible.  One of these services includes a weekly Third Hour Prayer.  This is a brief prayer service at 9 in the morning.  Orthodox Christians have a prayer routine through the hours of the day.  While this is mainly a practice that Monks follow, it is a wonderful way to stay prayerful throughout the day.  Our family continues to attend the weekly Third Hour Prayer service offered by our church as frequently as possible.  It helps that we all fellowship at Panera afterwards :)   It is so nice coming together as a Body of Christians and praying together.  It is also a good time of learning for our newly Orthodox family by watching others and praying often. 

Tangent #2:  When I say "our family" what I mean is, ALL of our family.  The Orthodox Church believes that we are all members of the church and therefore all people should be included in worship services.  There is absolutely NO childcare during church services.  So, the whole Bradley Clan, including the wee 4 month old Abigail, all participate in every service together as a family. (This will also be a topic for another post, so keep your eyes peeled!)

A more recent addition to my prayer life has been Morning Prayers.  Being someone who thrives in the evening rather than the morning, this is definitely an area that could use some growth!  So far I have made this optional for the girls.  I pray with them carrying on about the house and they join me if they choose, which typically by the end I have 4 little girls at my feet :)  There are so many different versions of Evening and Morning prayers that one could follow, but I do enjoy the one to which I linked.  It leaves me with little to say.  After thanking God for blessing me with a new day, stating my faith, praying for everyone individually and then prayers of strength for the day, I usually have little else to add.  My absolute favorite right now is by Metropolitan Philaret:

O Lord,
grant that I may meet the coming day in peace.
Help me in all things
to rely upon Thy Holy Will.
In every hour of the day,
reveal Thy will to me.
Bless my dealings with all who surround me.
Teach me to treat all that comes to me
throughout the day with peace of soul,
and with the firm conviction that Thy will governs all.
In all my deeds and words,
guide my thoughts and feelings.
In unforeseen events, let me not forget
that all are sent by Thee.
Teach me to act firmly and wisely,
without embittering and embarrassing others.
Give me the strength to bear the fatigue
of the coming day with all that it shall bring.
Direct my will.
Teach me to pray.
Pray Thou Thyself in me.
Amen.

Since morning prayers are so difficult for me, I have typed up this prayer, laminated it, and taped in in our shower.  So, on the off chance I actually get a shower sometime during the day, I have a prayer right there ready to go!

Another prayer that has been so useful during the day has been the Jesus Prayer.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

When the girls are screaming and the babies are crying...Lord have mercy!
When dinner is not going right and I just want some fast food...Lord have mercy!
When I'm tired during a workout, but I know I have more to go...Lord have mercy!
When I'm about to loose my temper...Lord have mercy!
When I'm homeschooling the girls..Lord have mercy!
When I'm about to tackle a big pile of laundry...Lord have mercy!

So simple, but such a pure cry from the heart. 

Praying without ceasing.

Frederica Matthews-Green, whose book Facing East was so vital to my Becoming Orthodox, has also written a book about this prayer.

Once a month all the parents (grandparents, godparents, those wanting to be parents, etc.) gather at our church to say prayers for our children.  We pray the Akathist to the Mother of God, Nurterer of Children.  The word Akathist is a word for prayer that literarly means not-sitting (which I find a little humorous, because 99.9% of services are "not-sitting").  The Mother of God, or Theotokos, would be who Protestants refer to as Mary. What woman understands better about raising children than the Mother of God herself!  I love, love, love this prayer!  It is so rich in scripture, talk about praying scripture!  It goes pretty much through the entire Sermon on the Mount and then some, praying for our children to live faithfully.  One of my favorite gifts came from our Deacon's wife, a CD of this prayer.  It is so nice having this prayer playing in the background on days that I want to strangle hug my children :)

One final prayer that I would like to share comes from St. Ephraim the Syrian.  This prayer, which is such a great reminder for me daily, is also used during the Lent season.

O Lord and Master of my life, Take from me the spirit of sloth, despair, lust of power and idle talk.

But give rather the spirit of chastity, meekness of mind, patience and love to Thy servant.

Yea O Lord and King, grant me to see my own transgressions and not to judge my brother, for blessed art thou unto ages of ages. Amen.

I am so thankful to have so many different resources to help guide me as I grow in my prayer life.  I know I have barely touched into all that Orthodoxy has to offer regarding prayer, but it is such a beautiful beginning.  Seeing prayer as a lifelong process and not something to expect to have perfected right away gives me the grace and perseverance necessary to continually strive to give God my all and to never stop communicating with Him.