Well Ordered Spontaneous Praying

Spontaneity. This is something our culture and society values highly. The ability to be spontaneous is considered a point of character by many. It's something men and women look for in a spouse. When it's lacking we tend to find it quite unromantic. Spontaneous prayer is also a thing of value for most of us. We relish and rejoice in the fact that we can go to God any time and pray with any words that express the content of our hearts at any moment. This is one of the great benefits of justification by faith: access (Romans 5:1-2). In a sense, it's spontaneous access.

I just looked up the word spontaneous in the dictionary. Here's what I found:

spon·ta·ne·ous
1 : proceeding from natural feeling or native tendency without external constraint
2 : arising from a momentary impulse

There is a sense in which this word has to do with things that we ought to avoid: "without external constraint" and "arising from momentary impulse" do not seem like great Biblical qualities to me; particularly, from the perspective of prayer. Again, there is a place for the spontaneous, in the trenches, desperation prayer of "help" or "save me". However, I wonder if there's a correlation between the banalities of the prayer life of the average American Christian and the over-priced value we give to spontaneous prayer. Words without heart are always condemned in Scripture. But we must remember that just because words are "spontaneous" -- the first thing that comes into our head is what comes out of our mouth -- does not mean that those words somehow have more "heart".

Planned or written prayer is not unspiritual nor is it inherently heartless. In fact, it is my growing conviction that structured prayer can be a sign of growing maturity. The cries of a baby for its mother and a Shakespearean sonnet are both heart-felt forms of expression. However, one is much more mature because it's structured and planned and has order and form and by very nature not spontaneous. It's interesting that when Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he didn't tell them, "Just pray what's on your heart". He gave them form and structure. The Psalter is replete with liturgical type prayers that most of us in the evangelical church would snub if we heard them as they were used in Hebrew liturgy. Yet, God preserved them; therefore, we should value them.

I have found recent help in this area. About a month or so ago while I was researching historical information about the Scottish Claymore Broadsword, I stumbled across a web site that talked about the "Daily Office" as used by the ancient Celtic Church. I began practicing this, primarily using a format of reading Scripture and prayer at set hours in the day (for me, 9:00 AM, 11:45 AM, and 3:00 PM). In this I have found a rhythm in my devotional life that I have not experienced before. These set aside times of meeting with God have now replaced what I would call my "traditional quiet time". Rather than trying to cram in devotional time once per day early in the morning for 45 minutes to an hour, I have found a more natural rhythm of seeking God several times per day. This was most refreshing.

Further reading and research on this subject has led me to an excellent tool that I wish to recommend and share with you. For less than $20 you can purchase a book entitled "Celtic Daily Prayer: Prayers and Readings From the Northumbria Community" . I have found this to be an amazing tool to help my personal prayer life move beyond spontaneous and into a richer cadence of worship. I am sensing a connection with God and with the historicity of the Christian church that is personally refreshing. Try it and let me know what you think. While it may not be a tool for everybody, it is worth exploring. This book has helped me to remember that we are just a part of the Divine tapestry that connects eternity to eternity and that this tapestry tells a glorious story: we are living characters and God is supreme.

bernie@fccfranklin.com