On Prayer and Meditations to the Lord
(Phenomenology of Prayer)
A Post on Essay One: Merold Westphal
By our very nature, humanity is focused on έγώ. The “I” of life is έγώ, which is Greek for “I” and where we derive the English word “ego” from. In the very center of our hearts, we treat the “I” as the most important figure in our reality. We are always the main character in our production of the theater play, Life.
I AM the most important character. I AM the focus of attention. I AM deserving of the richest life. The problem is, we have taken the very essence of God, I AM, and tried to make it our own. Even in what is supposed to be the most humble of activities, prayer, we have thought of ourselves rather than the glory of the Lord our God.
On Humility
Merold Westphal recalls learning about five elements of prayer life: praise, thanksgiving, confession, petition (for ourselves), and intercession (for others). He felt he did well enough on the last four, but he could never seem to get the first one right. Praising God seems so simple, yet we only seem to pray “Let me be…”, “Let me have…”, “Thank you for…”, “Please do this…”; we never seem to bask in the glory of Christ our Savior. We are so preoccupied with the things of this life, the things we need, the things we want, and the things we want taken from us. The all-satisfying beauty of God in his infinity is so captivating that it transcends all of man’s other needs. His very essence breathes life into our souls and removes our desire for anything but him. Through this, all else we want him to do begins to vanish inside the oblivion of our minds.
This does not detract from physical necessity, but, in truth, actually strengthens our resolve for it. It bolsters our confidence in the glory of the Lord to hear the prayers of believers and to know that his ear listens even when the request is not granted. Praise to him not only gives him glory, but also serves as a reminder of his character to us; even when food is scarce or health flees from us, the goodness of the Lord prevails.
Westphal offers this thesis as a solution to our lack of humility in prayer: “Prayer is a deep, quite possibly the deepest decentering of the self, deep enough to begin dismantling or, if you like, deconstructing that preoccupation with myself”. He understands that as we move deeper into a personal time of burning for Christ, we begin to lose the interest in the things we ask for, and we, instead, gain interest in the beauty of his majesty. We become Isaiah, huddled on the ground and unable to handle the fullness of God’s glory: his robes which stretch out from his throne, his angels which sing can only sing “Holy, Holy, Holy”, and the mercy of the coal touching Isaiah’s lips for the ease of conscience.
On Surrender
In his essay on decentralized prayer, Westphal discusses several prayers of Biblical servants who pray in surrender to God. The first is Samuel, friend to Eli and a priest. When God calls upon him, Samuel responds, “Here am I, for you called me. Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening”. Samuel immediately uses his words to bow in submission. The word he uses for servant is rendered as δουλόσ in the Septuagint (The Greek translating of the Tanakh from before Christ). This word can be translated as slave in English. Samuel shows here a complete surrender of himself to God and his will.
Mary is the second Biblical figure whom Westphal mentions. Her prayer is extraordinarily similar to Samuels. She says, “Here am I, the servant of the LORD; let it be with me according to your word”. Here, Mary uses the same language to acknowledge that she is in complete surrender to what God and his Word have planned for her. Mary’s posture is of one who desires nothing but splendor and delight in the Lord.
It is admirable that these people were so humble before the Lord. Before thought of their own need, they kneel before God in full submission to him. As their fellow servants of God, we can learn many things from these two about our readiness to follow God.
Final Thoughts
First, I am in no way saying that we should not ask for things. The Lord’s Prayer, said by Jesus, asks for daily bread, the forgiveness of sins, and safety from the intent of the world. This post isn’t trying to say it is evil or wicked to request things from God (For if our God and Savior, himself, does it then how could it ever be considered wicked), but we ought to remember to praise the worthiness of the God we live for and submit to, for he is above all, beside all, and within all that we love.
Lastly, as Westphal says, “Prayer needs silence, not only external but also internal silence; for our minds and hearts can be and usually are very noisy places even when we emit no audible sound”.
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