I am going to have to think about this one for quite a while. As the last in the series on prayer it is quite interestingly different. Jean -Nicholas Grou (1730- 1803) suggests that prayer is a supernatural activity that God via the Holy Spirit needs to teach. We need the gift of prayer. He says we know a few types of prayer off by the heart, but we are largely ignorant of the theory as well as the practice of prayer. That is very strong stuff!He states we try and do things in our own strength forgetting that prayer is a supernatural activity. Which would all seem quite logical, but I think I rarely treat it as such. I thinking I am much more likely to consciously think of corporate prayer in some instances as a supernatural process rather than personal prayer. He says that God is spirit therefore we must worship in Spirit and in Truth.
He then goes on to say we spend so much time praying with our lips and so little time praying with our heart. I found this immensely challenging! Do I pray with my heart?
Try this for a quote "You ask me what the voice of the heart is? It is love which is the voice of the heart. Love God and you will always be speaking to him. The seed of love is growth in prayer. If you do not understand that you have never loved or prayed. Ask God to open you heart and kindle a spark of his love, and then you will begin to understand what praying means.
If it is the heart that prays. It is evident that sometimes even continuously it can pray by itself without any help from words spoken or conceived....... For God reads the secrets of the heart. God reads its most intimate feelings even those which we are unaware of "
It certainly brings a new nuance to what can be happening in silence.
Until Next time.
Paul
No comments:
Post a Comment