Tapestry

Disciplined prayer can be equated to a pie - the pie-ty of prayer. There is a historic recipe of seven ingredients: adoration, praise, thanksgiving, confession, oblation, intercession, and petition. Too much, too little, or omission of any one of these ingredients for a length of time will lead to an unbalanced prayer life.

The Size of Prayer
Pie or pi () is defined as the "mathematical symbol designating the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter". In a spiritual sense this can be taken as the size and the shape our prayer. One word offered up to God can exceed all bounds, or numerous words can measure only the circumference of a pinhead. The secret is our whether our heart is whole (Psalm 119:10).

The Hours of Prayer
Pie or pye was a chart used in selecting the appropriate Scripture readings for the daily service or hours of prayer during the Middle Ages. The Christian church chose explicit Scriptures for specific times to be read in order to convey the life of Christ over the course of a year. Thus at Christmas the Nativity story, at Easter the Crucifixion - reminding us of the periods or seasons in the life of Jesus.

Individual Prayer
Praying alone is outlined in Matthew 6.6 as Jesus said 'when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father Who is in the secret place; and your Father Who sees in secret will reward you openly'. As individuals we are instructed to go before the Lord alone in prayer. All seven historic parts of prayer (ingredients) should be used during this time for a well balanced, fully satisfying pie of prayer. There is wholeness and richness in the entirety not found when one or more ingredients are missing or one ingredient is used alone.

Corporate Prayer
An individual is equipped to present to the corporate church a balanced pie-ty of prayer when all seven ingredients are in use. One slice of this richness may be the gift of an intercessor, or the praise of a beautiful voice, or the offering of one=s self as a teacher. As the Body of Christ we come together bearing our individual gifts and differences, our similarities and common faith to make our corporate offering.

ADORATION
There is a time to keep silence... Ecclesiastes 3:7
Let all the earth keep silence before Him. Habakkuk 2:20
Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for He has roused Himself from His Holy dwelling.
Zachariah 2:13

Christian prayer begins with adoration. The example given by our Lord to the disciples, Our Father, who art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name...(Matthew 6:9), acknowledges that we are God's special creation, His children by adoption through faith in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and that He is worthy of our adoration as the Hallowed (holy) God who sustains us.

Adoration is the silent beholding of our God. There is a time under Heaven for silence. The door opens and we walk into the Holy of Holies to see Him, to listen and to adore Him. Mary, Martha=s sister, chose the better part at His feet. Isaiah saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up. The Orthodox Church calls this a time when Heaven and earth meet. Taste and see that He is good. Our spirit is willing tho the flesh is weak, but in time, through God's mercy and our discipline, the flesh is brought under control. In Ps 4:11 God says: hear Me when I call. Jesus says: My sheep hear My voice. Only when we are quiet can we hear.

PRAISE
Praise the Lord!
Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord!
Psalm 113:1

Praise is the verbalization of adoration, states The Reverend. Mother Virginia of All Saints Sisters of the Poor Convent. All the future belongs to God and with Him all things are possible; therefore recognizing that He is Holy and all powerful we praise Him according to His excellent greatness (Psalm 150:2). He is highly exalted by Moses in Exodus 15. David sings of His loving kindness in II Samuel 6:12-16. Mary proclaims that the Mighty One has done great things . . and holy is His name (Luke 1:45-55).

We cannot help but sing hymns, quote Scripture, recite Psalms when we have heard our God. Without the silence first, praise can become a narcotic fix, clanging cymbals, mere noise. It is never enough, never sustains the spirit through the dark night of the soul, but when based upon the silence of adoration, our praise combines with the angels and saints in Heaven!

THANKSGIVING
Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving Psalm 95:2
..give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:18
I will offer to Thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving
and call on the name of the Lord. Psalm 116:17

A thankful heart will not be quenched nor tongue silenced when we have seen and heard the Lord. We can with assurance give thanks in all circumstances knowing that all things work together for good even in the midst of sorrow and suffering. Paul was beaten, shipwrecked, bitten by snake, imprisoned, persecuted. His life sounded like a down-hill battle and yet God showed him that it was an uphill run to Himself.

CONFESSION (PENITENCE)
Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. James 5:16
Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins. Psalm 25.18

The Ten Commandments
1. Do not worship any god except Me.
2. Do not make idols. Do not bow down and worship idols.
I AM the Lord your God, and I demand all your love.
3. Do not misuse My Name.
4. Remember that the Sabbath Day belongs to Me.
5. Respect you father and your mother.
6. Do not murder.
7. Be faithful in marriage.
8. Do not steal.
9. Do not tell lies about others.
10. Do not want anything that belongs to someone else.
*Children's Illustrated Contemporary English Version

Penitence is acknowledging our sin, known and unknown, before God, Who alone has the authority to forgive. The middle that connects the Heaven of God to the earth of man is Confession. Like Isaiah (Chapter 6)we see our sins, they are ever before us and we believe that we are the chief of all sinners, we have unclean lips. We see the enormous contrast between God and ourselves. As Evelyn Underhill said, "Real penitence begins when we contemplate the Holiness of God".

Now the work begins, to daily account for our misdeeds so that we may be prepared to meet the Lord at any time. Have we kept the 10 commandments, do we posses the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit, do we daily renew our mind? God will reveal to us the answers for the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword and piercing ..able to judge the thought and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 5:12) All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.(Romans 3:23) If we say we have not sinned, we lie.

Do we love God with all our heart, mind, and soul? In Ezekiel 44, God shows His desire and the consequences of our actions. He is calling us to cleanse the altars of our hearts so that He alone may reign there. We are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood. If we do not pursue a pure heart, follow His Word, His commandments, we shall forever be relegated to the busy work of His church and not honored with the delight of ministering to Him in spirit and in truth as shown in Ezekiel.

So many in the church today are busy! Are we as Isaiah? Or are we the ones relegated to the outer court, banned from entering beyond the veil? Most of us have days when we have lost His abiding Presence because we have refused to confess our sins before a Holy God.

Do we love our neighbor as our self? Jesus prayed that we be one. We must ask forgiveness from our neighbor before requesting forgiveness from God. Do we honor the diverse gifts that God has bestowed upon His people, do we acknowledge the different parts of the Body of Christ, do we love our neighbor as we expect him to love us? If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
(1 Corinthians 13:1) Do we do nothing in selfishness nor conceit, but with all humility count others better than ourselves? (Phil 2)

The seven Penitential Psalms are 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143.

OBLATION
Here am I, a servant of the Lord,
let it be done unto me according to Thy Word. Luke 1:34

The giving of our self to God for Him to use as He wills. Jesus is the perfect model in the Garden when He said not as I will, but as You will...may Your will be done. Mary, His Mother, said it when approached with the most important request of all times: let it be done unto me. Abraham left Ur, Jonah stopped running, Isaiah said Here am I, send me! They all gave themselves to God the Father for Him to use as He willed. Can we say as Frances Havergal wrote "take my life and let it be consecrated Lord to Thee"?

Paul called for our full surrender to the Lord. I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (Romans 12:1).

Alive Unto God

A saintly nun uses the phrase alive unto God, from Romans 6:ll, as her constant prayer. If we too become alive unto God by yielding of ourselves to do the Lord's service, instead of serving ourselves, then our lives will become an abundant life. When we yield to God's purposes we become dead to sin but alive to God through Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 6:11).

That alive unto God life becomes a life of service where we present our bodies as a living and Holy sacrifice. We, therefore, will not be conformed to this hostile world but will be transformed by the renewing of our mind and able to prove what the will of God is, that which is good, acceptable, (Romans 12:1).

This alive unto God life will also be a separated life, set apart for the Gospel of God (Romans 1:1). We will not run with the pack but run with the Shepherd, doing what He has directed. Be sure that it is in accordance with Scripture and in the tradition of the church. Test all things! Be sure it is "The Shepherd" and not the counterfeit with whom you run. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them great numbers of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

The alive unto God life is spirit filled life. It will be marked by the abundant fruit produced from a healthy life. As Galatians 5:22 shows, the produce thereof will be love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness.

And last, but not least, this life once given, once consecrated, to the Lord should mature. We should grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 3:18)

INTERCESSION
...far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you.
1 Samuel 12:23

Prayers to God for the needs of others are intercessions. Jesus is our primary example of an intercessor to Whom we turn for guidance (High Priestly Prayer, John 17:1-20). On the Cross, Christ interceded forgiveness by praying the words for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34). His life was charged with prayer and so should ours. He is not dead but sits at the right hand of His Father, interceding on our behalf (Hebrews 7:25). If intercession is that important to Him, should we not follow His example?

Psalm 107 gives an outline for disciplined intercessory prayer. First, those wandering in desert wastelands in verses 4-9. The homeless who hunger and thirst for God, for moral righteousness as well as the physical necessities. Second, those in prisons of darkness and gloom in verses 10-16. The prisoners who rebel against God need release. Third, the sick in verses 17-22. Those who are ill in body, soul, and spirit should be included in our prayers for healing. And finally the fourth being those caught in the storms of life in verses 23-32.

PETITION
Hear my cry for mercy as I call to You for help.
Psalm 28:2

The prayer of petition is defined as presenting our own needs before the Lord, that His will be done. Missionary Amy Carmichael suggested that His answer will be in the form of "yes, no, wait". It is our job to listen to the still small voice and to obey.

In Mark 10:46-52 Barthemaus, the blind man, calls out Son of David have mercy on me. Jesus responds with the question, What do you want Me to do for you?. Jesus knows the need of Barthemaus but wants the blind man to verbalize his desire. Throughout the Gospels there are many times the person in need is asked by Jesus to express the need before He grants the request. We are often blind in spirit and soul as well as body; we too call out for God to have mercy upon us; and we need to verbalize the petition of our hearts to our Lord for healing, for help, for mercy.

Petition is the last ingredient of the pie of prayer, but often the first one and only one ever used. All ingredients of prayer should come before this "give me" prayer, then and only then will we be more eager and capable to pray Thy will be done.

Warnings
Praise will be clanging bells without the time of quiet adoration in the Presence of God.

Thanksgiving will be only for the easy, good times without the sacrifice of thanks during the times of pain, sorrow, and suffering.

Confession will not penetrate the darkened recesses of our soul to confess sins committed against God and our neighbor, without casting off the willingness to confess only the superficial.

Oblation will be giving only part not our whole self to God to be used as He wills without knowing Who He truly is during a time of silent adoration.

Intercessions will not carry the love of our neighbor as Jesus carried for us if we do not begin to carry the fire of love for Him.

Petitions will only be a selfish, personal wish list without God's constant and renewing Presence during the times of adoration, confession, and oblation.

Come Away^©
A personal retreat with our Lord.

Arise, my beloved, come away with Me.
Song of Songs 2:13

And He said to them, "Come away
by yourselves to a lonely place & rest a while."
Mark 6:31

A retreat is time alone with our blessed Lord, apart and separate from our normal surroundings and activities. An hour, an afternoon, a full day, several days, or a week may constitute a retreat. Use this Come Away personal retreat format as the basis for your time alone with the Lord. Start with these words of Scripture, allowing God to enlarge your heart (Psalm 119:32) with His Presence. The retreat should be in silence. Depart to a place where your silence will be respected.

We should go away to a lonely spot to listen in silence to our God one day a month and one week a year if at all possible. This will often be a time of fasting as well, one that is instructed and laid upon our hearts by the Most High Himself.

A monk once said, "My Lord, I am going into retreat. Keep the adventure fresh for me. I am tired: do not let this drop down into being just a physical rest and an escape from the things I am leaving. My mind is tired too, but I know that does not matter, if I come to Thee, the Lord and Lover of my soul."

Return, all of you who have turned away from the Lord,
He will heal you and make you faithful.
Jeremiah 3:22

ADORATION
Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10

PRAISE
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Psalm 150:6

THANKSGIVING
I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart. Psalm 111:1

Joyful, joyful we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love; hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, praising Thee, their sun above. Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; drive the dark of doubt away; giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day. Hymn to Joy, Beethoven 1770-1827

CONFESSION
O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me!
Thou knowest when I sit down and when I rise up; Thou discernest my thoughts from afar.
Thou searchest out my path and my lying down and art acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue, lo, O LORD, Thou knowest it altogether.

For Thou didst form my inward parts, Thou didst knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise Thee, for Thou art fearful and wonderful. Wonderful are thy works!
Thou knowest me right well; my frame was not hidden from Thee, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths...

Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting!
Psalm 139:1-5,13-15,23,24

OBLATION
Here am I, a servant of the Lord, let it be done unto me according to Thy Word. Luke 1:34

Take my life and let it be consecrated Lord to Thee.
Hymn: Take My Life, Frances Ridley Havergal 1874

INTERCESSION
God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in not praying for you. 1 Samuel 12:23

And whatsoever you shall ask in My Name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. John 14:13

Gracious Father, we pray for Thy holy church. Fill it with all truth, in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt, purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in any thing it is amiss, reform it. Where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake of Jesus Christ Thy Son our Savior. Amen. Prayer of an Early Church Father

He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches. Revelation 1:7

If My people who are called by My Name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.
2 Chronicles 7:14,15

PETITIONS
. . . your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. Pray, then, in this way: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed by 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 debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Matthew 6:8-13

Ask and it shall be given you; seek and you shall find.... Matthew 7:7-8

The Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.
Galatians 5:22-26

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Golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints Revelation 5:8

He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I AM coming quickly." Amen. Come, LORD Jesus. . . Amen. Revelation 22:20-21

Scripture quotations from Revised Standard Version
Hymn verses from The Hymnal 1982

Compiled by B. H. Shannonhouse
^©Copyright 1997