The first chapter in Part One of Phenomenology of Prayer was truly eye-opening for me. There are
many things in life that I think many of us take at face value and for me one
of those things was prayer. I just assumed that prayer was just a way of
talking to God. In my prayers I might thank God for his careful watch over my
family, ask for his continued love and protection over me as well as them, and
request that he give my love to the loved ones already with him in heaven. According
to Merold Westphal in the Chapter Prayer
as the Posture for the Decentered Self, there are five elements of prayer.
These are praise, thanksgiving, confession, petition (for self), and
intercession (for others). It is hard to believe that I once found this act to
be so simple. Before, I might have thanked God, but never had I considered
praising him for his greatness. Clearly I had the thanksgiving down, but I had
only ever confessed my sins in Reconciliation when it was expected of me. The
times that I had previously confessed in prayer could be counted on one hand.
Petition for my self was another thing that I did often as well as intercession
for others. However, upon reconsidering the meaning of ‘intercession for others,’
I found that I was often selfish in whom these “others” I was praying for were.
I would pray for friends and family, but what about the homeless, the poor, and
others in need that I did not know? Weren’t they important to “intercede” for
as well? I came to the conclusion that I had been praying wrong my entire life!
I feel good knowing that I can now pray in the fullest sense of the word.
No comments:
Post a Comment