Phenomenology of Prayer

This has been one of the most influential pieces we’ve been assigned in this class so far. It was convicting to read the introduction of The Phenomenology of Prayer as a believer because I could see myself in the words of this author. Many times I come before the Lord and have no real idea what the heck is happening. I understand and believe this is okay, but nonetheless was convicted of the fact that there is so much more to coming before the Lord than just asking Him for things. Prayer connects us to the divine, to something beyond ourselves and beyond our immediate reality. It is a discipline, and therefore must be trained and practiced. The first theme of this book is that “we do not really know how to pray and so are constantly in the state of learning” (4). I find this to be true, and oddly encouraging. I will never perfect prayer. In addition, the most sanctified human I come across has still not perfected prayer either. The second theme found in this book is that our prayers always go “beyond” (6). In order for this to happen we must hold prayer close to its home in factical religious life. A third theme we find is that prayer leaves us with a tricky balance. Prayer cannot be without direction at all. On the other hand, to spell that direction out proves impossible (7). In the first chapter we read that prayer is the posture of the “decentered self,” (13). This is where we read that prayer is something more than asking and receiving from God. We are walked through five elements of prayer: praise, thanksgiving, confession, petition, and intercession. Then we get to the big kicker: prayer is a deep, quite possibly the deepest decentering self, deep enough to begin dismantling or, if you like, deconstructing that burning preoccupation with myself. This is radical. Life changing.