Comments on: Petitioning Prayer http://www.balancedlifecenter.com/188-petitioning-prayer/ Inspired Living Tools, Tips and Teachings Thu, 24 Jul 2008 04:02:15 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: The Growing Edge » Prayer can be healing (whether or not you believe in “God”) http://www.balancedlifecenter.com/188-petitioning-prayer/#comment-4230 The Growing Edge » Prayer can be healing (whether or not you believe in “God”) Tue, 13 Mar 2007 17:19:30 +0000 http://www.balancedlifecenter.com/188-petitioning-prayer/#comment-4230 [...] One night as I lay on my bed, in actual physical pain from these terrible emotions, I did something in desperation that I had never thought of doing before. I prayed for help. I do not have a concept of a God that is a kind of person who relates to us individually - though I do believe there is an intelligence and an energy that organizes the universe. And prayer for me is usually more like a conversation with all the energies surrounding me - the trees, the lake, the unseen spirits. It’s more to do with trying to understand the world and expressing gratitude and appreciation. I had never actually thought to ask for any kind of healing or comfort. To me, that’s a Christian thing, and I’m not really a Christian. [Note: just after publishing this post I discovered a wonderful post that precisely explains the difference between the two types of prayer I’m talking about. Nneka at Balanced Life Center calls prayer that asks for help as if from an outside agency, “petitioning prayer.” Exactly the type of prayer that was so new for me.] [...] [...] One night as I lay on my bed, in actual physical pain from these terrible emotions, I did something in desperation that I had never thought of doing before. I prayed for help. I do not have a concept of a God that is a kind of person who relates to us individually - though I do believe there is an intelligence and an energy that organizes the universe. And prayer for me is usually more like a conversation with all the energies surrounding me - the trees, the lake, the unseen spirits. It’s more to do with trying to understand the world and expressing gratitude and appreciation. I had never actually thought to ask for any kind of healing or comfort. To me, that’s a Christian thing, and I’m not really a Christian. [Note: just after publishing this post I discovered a wonderful post that precisely explains the difference between the two types of prayer I’m talking about. Nneka at Balanced Life Center calls prayer that asks for help as if from an outside agency, “petitioning prayer.” Exactly the type of prayer that was so new for me.] [...]

]]> By: Alexander M Zoltai http://www.balancedlifecenter.com/188-petitioning-prayer/#comment-4103 Alexander M Zoltai Sun, 11 Mar 2007 08:57:59 +0000 http://www.balancedlifecenter.com/188-petitioning-prayer/#comment-4103 O My Father, I have moments of deep unrest -- moments when I know not what to ask by reason of the very excess of my wants. I have in these hours no words for Thee, no conscious prayers for Thee. My cry seems purely worldly; I want only the wings of a dove that I may flee away. Yet all the time Thou has accepted my unrest as a prayer. Thou has interpreted its cry for a dove's wings as a cry for Thee, Thou has received the nameless longings of my heart as the intercessions of Thy Spirit. They are not yet the intercessions of my spirit; I know not what to ask. But Thou knowest what I ask, O my God. Thou knowest the name of that need which lies beneath my speechless groan. Thou knowest that, because I am made in Thine image, I can find rest only in what gives rest to Thee; therefore Thou hast counted my unrest unto me for righteousness, and has called my groaning Thy Spirit's prayer. Amen. - Rev. George Matheson (1842-1906) O My Father, I have moments of deep unrest — moments when I know not what to ask by reason of the very excess of my wants. I have in these hours no words for Thee, no conscious prayers for Thee. My cry seems purely worldly; I want only the wings of a dove that I may flee away. Yet all the time Thou has accepted my unrest as a prayer. Thou has interpreted its cry for a dove’s wings as a cry for Thee, Thou has received the nameless longings of my heart as the intercessions of Thy Spirit. They are not yet the intercessions of my spirit; I know not what to ask. But Thou knowest what I ask, O my God. Thou knowest the name of that need which lies beneath my speechless groan. Thou knowest that, because I am made in Thine image, I can find rest only in what gives rest to Thee; therefore Thou hast counted my unrest unto me for righteousness, and has called my groaning Thy Spirit’s prayer. Amen.

- Rev. George Matheson (1842-1906)

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