Our experiment in ecclesia is truly an experiment. It’s a process in which we must learn, test the things we are learning, and test again if we hope to gain deeper understanding. As a church, we have been using this process to gain an deeper understanding of prayer. We sometimes talk about prayer as a ideology; we discuss concepts of prayer, ways to pray, and reasons to pray. But as we test prayer as an ideology we often run into problems. We can dissect words in hopes to find something we haven’t noticed before or question methodological approaches. We can discuss the benefits of different types of prayer; discuss finding the rhythm of fixed hour prayer, or growing in compassion with “flash prayers.” But in the end we find ourselves doing a lot of talking about prayer, but not actually praying. Prayer is not meant to be an ideology alone, it is meant to be a practice. In other, fancy words: Finding the orthodoxy (right way of thinking) of prayer is useless without putting into practice the orthopraxy (right way of acting) of prayer.
I believe we learn more about prayer when we pray then when we talk about prayer. Two Sundays ago was proof of this. I taught on the topic of prayer and the challenge of lining up the things that we believe about pray with the way we actually pray. I felt as if the time talking about prayer was beneficial, but it wasn’t until we spent two hours in prayer together that we started to understand it. We tested the things we had just finished talking about. We tested prayer by praying confidently and honestly before God. We tested prayer by laying hands on each other while crying out to God for healing. We tested prayer through interceding for answers to unknown questions.
When I reflect on my life growing up in church I am reminded more of the moments of orthopraxy than I am of the moments of orthodoxy. I’m not saying that orthodoxy is not needed (really, I would argue that our orthodoxy and orthopraxy will always be connected. We cannot experience one without the other, but that’s a topic for another day.), but truth experienced is stronger than truth known. For me, that Sunday night was evidence of this. I have trouble remembering what I taught on that night, but I know the prayers we prayed together. As I reflect on moments like those I am greatful that God has brought me to this place; I am proud to be a part of this church.
May the Lord, who is abundant in compassion, guide us through all the steps we take.
yes.