What is more, illustrations drawn from the court of a medieval tyrant do not tally with the picture Jesus gave us of prayer being like the relationship of a loving Father with his children.

So we do need to start again and re-think prayer. We need to find a picture of prayer that makes sense for us. Our ancestors approached authority by bowing and scraping, by flattery and getting influential people to put in a good word for them, and thank goodness we do not.
We approach our authorities by filling in forms in triplicate, and that does not help us to understand prayer! So let us look at a completely different approach.Let us imagine that I am praying for John. We can see it working something like this:

The love of God flowing from me to John may require down-to-earth forms of expression: time spent with him, a letter, a lift to hospital, the laying on of hands or some sacramental act.

If John's trouble is serious, a “higher voltage” of God's love will be needed. In Jesus the full flow of Love was possible because of His purity. Perhaps only a trickle can get through me ... but at least that will give John a boost towards health.

WHAT PRAYER IS NOT:

Me telling God how worried I am about John, begging, beseeching, bribing, threatening Him to do something about it.

WHAT PRAYER IS:

Me coming, preferably as part of a “family” to Our Father, as the Lord's Prayer indicates.

We can only do that if we are really convinced that God is Love, the Love that was embodied in Jesus.

So the first part of prayer is to focus on God.

A story about Jesus or something He said will help us to tune in to God.

As we start thinking about what God is really like, naturally we will want to praise Him. There is something wrong with a person who sees something beautiful and does not want to say, “Isn't that beautiful”. Praise is just enjoying God, not flattery.

Then, when we have focussed on OUR FATHER and have HALLOWED HIS NAME, we want to move on to seeing what He wants done here on earth, and what He wants us to do in particular. We clarify what our lives are about: “SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN ... “. As we see the mess the world is in, and John's trouble is part of that mess, it leads us to set aside selfish ambitions and to dedicate our lives to working for God, and what we want more than anything else is to do what He wants us to do. “THY WILL BE DONE ...” “I’m here at your disposal, Lord. Use me to broadcast your love.''

Into this loving relationship we can now bring ‘John', just allowing God's love and power to flow through us to him. No words are necessary, but some words may help.

Having named John, keep your thoughts focussed on Jesus rather than on him. Try to visualise one of Jesus' healing works that is relevant to John's case, or to focus on some aspect of God that is needed ... for instance on “God is Light” if John is in darkness and depression. “See” yourself blessing John in the Name of Jesus.

You do not need to be saying anything or doing anything other than being open to God, perhaps for quite a long time. But if an idea starts forming in your mind, be open to what the Lord wants done. It is wise to cross-check with somebody else if it is something unusual.

SOME QUESTIONS

“How about the parable of the importunate widow, and the friend at midnight?” (Luke 18: 1-6 and Luke 11: 5-12)

The point of these stories is that prayer must not be a polite formality, but there must be a sense of urgency that leads to persistence. Luke 18: 1 makes this quite clear. It is not that God is like the sleepy friend or the unjust judge. Rather, our sense of urgency and caring must be ready to answer His. But it must be a FAITH-FULL urgency, not frantic worry

“SURELY IT IS BETWEEN GOD AND ME... why should I ask somebody else to pray?”

Because God's basic concern is to build us up in mutual love, and He has made us so that we are inter-dependent. We need to rely on one another at every level, including the spiritual. Part of His healing purpose falls into place when we pray for each other in love. No doubt Jairus had prayed to God for the healing of his daughter (Mark 5), but it was when he asked a flesh and blood man for healing that she was healed. If he had not swallowed his pride and asked this wandering joiner for healing, she would have died. Would that really have been God's will? So we are told “send for the elders of the church” (James 5: 14) because now it is the Church that is the Body of Christ. Unfortunately many churches are not ready to respond to such a request. But just as we send for help at the physical level (i.e. the doctor) so we should send for help at the spiritua level. God works through people, and I must not be too proud to ask.

Jesus said to go into the inner room and to pray in secret. So isn't it wrong to pray with each other?'' (Matt. 6: 5-6)

There is prayer that is very private, and without this inner, private prayer all the rest will drain of meaning. In a marriage, if husband and wife do not have times alone with each other, the marriage will disintegrate. So it is with our relationship with God. Developing this “inner room” of prayer is vital, though it can be difficult in a modern council flat with poor sound insulation. But Jesus also told us to love one another and stressed that He would be present when two or three gather in His Name. Our TOGETHERNESS (another word for “communion”) is very much part of His concern, and if we are to do His Will then we must learn to share our joys and sorrows, to uphold each other in prayer and to talk to Him with each other. People find many different ways of praying together: some like silence together, some prefer a set of words that they agree on, some pray freely and verbally. BEING IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD TOGETHER is the important thing, and that may take different forms with different people

“I DON’T FEEL ANYTHING”

There are times when we are aware of the presence of God. It is hard to put it into words, but you just know that “the line is not dead”. Some people do have visions, etc, but most of us are just dimly aware that there is Someone there. Every now and then we get the feeling that nothing is there, and then we realise the difference. At these times, which we all go through, it is important that your love and loyalty for your earthly friend keeps you faithful in prayer, even if things seem dead on the God-side. When we look back, these are very often the times of spiritual growth.