Baptists traditionally affirm the doctrine of the priesthood of every believer. Because we have access to God through Jesus Christ, our high priest, we don’t need any human intermediary between us and heaven.
In practical terms, this theological conviction often results in public and private prayer that is conversational and extemporaneous. Many would no more write out a prayer in advance than they would write out ahead of time what they planned to say to their spouse at dinner.
John Chandler
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I am observing a trend, though, that values a careful crafting of prayer as highly as it values spontaneity. In this shift, no longer is a prayer written in advance reflexively deemed inauthentic or impersonal.
Many Christian traditions have long valued liturgical, written, formal and repetitive prayers. Catholics pray the rosary; Anglicans have the Book of Common Prayer; the Eastern Orthodox use the “Jesus Prayer” (“Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, Savior, have mercy on me, a sinner” — or the even-shorter form, ‘Lord Jesus, have mercy’). Sixth-century Benedictines organized their communal “rule of life” around a set of prayers.
All are attempts to honor Psalm 119:164: “Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous ordinances.”
Perhaps it was Phyllis Tickle who popularized more formal prayer for the evangelical world. Her 2000 book, The Divine Hours, helped many (re)discover “fixed-hour prayer.”
What this is beginning to look like in some evangelical communities around the country today includes:
• New emphasis on marking liturgical seasons with accompanying prayers services (especially during Lent and Holy Week);
• The regular use of written prayers in personal and corporate devotional life;
• The pastoral and lay-leader practice of writing out prayers as part of worship leadership.
A Pentecostal once chided a Presbyterian preacher as “frozen Chosen” for writing full manuscript sermons in advance.
“I rely on the Holy Spirit to inspire my preaching,” said the Pentecostal.
The Presbyterian replied, “So do I. But I’ve found that the Holy Spirit can inspire just as well on Wednesdays as 11:30 Sunday morning.”
Good point. Maybe there’s room for both spontaneous and structured prayer in the life of faith.
Trending is written by John Chandler, leader of the Spence Network (www.spencenetwork.org./equip.htm). He is a member at All Souls, a Baptist congregation in Charlottesville, Va.