Learning How to Pray from My Study at the Seminary

I have learned a lot from my first course in seminary study which has a tremendous impact on my prayer life !

Tyndale University & Seminary, Toronto 

 My attitude towards prayers and the way I pray have changed drastically. I thoroughly enjoyed the lectures and readings which I read from cover to cover learning the different forms and types of prayers. Among the various prayers, “Praying the Ordinary Prayer” has had a great impact on me.

I used to think that praying needs to be concerned with big world events, developments and catastrophes. I would feel guilty if I had not included these events in my prayers. However, my mind was opened when I read that “the discovery of God lies in the daily and the ordinary, not in the spectacular and the heroic. If we cannot find God in the routines of home and shop, then we will not find him at all”  ( Prayer by Richard Foster, 1992 ).

Right after reading “Praying the Ordinary,” I practiced what I learned. As I was walking towards our local community fitness centre, I started praying for every building and everybody I was passing by on my way. I prayed for the salvation of those people living in the houses and apartments in the neighbourhood, for the souls of those employees working in the grocery store and customers shopping there, as well as for the safety of the road construction crews pouring asphalt on the street corners.

 While I prayed for people in my immediate community, my love for them grew inside me and tears welled up in my eyes. I felt the power of prayer enabling me to love and care for total strangers, with whom I did not have a shred of connection. God’s presence could not have been closer to me at that point!

Another thing I learned was the famous Jesus Prayer, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner”. I used to think that my prayers have to be a certain length and that it could not be too short. Learning this Jesus prayer has let me say this prayer anytime of the day when I need to pray to God but not sure of what to say. From time to time, I may experience insomnia. After tossing in bed for hours and filling my mind with all sorts of unpleasant images from the day, I would become restless and anxious. I would pray this simple Jesus prayer over and over in my head.  Slowly and calmly, I let this prayer take over my mind and drift into a peaceful slumber.

Taking my first course at the seminary turned out to be the most practical thing I have done in my life. I have learned so much from it that it would take many blogs to write about them all. I may not be able to implement everything at once but I have already started to follow some of what I have learned. I know, overtime, I would learn to grow spiritually and have a richer prayer life. However, there is one thing that delights me the most and I would like to share with my blog readers what has touched me to my core:

 “I urge you: carry on an ongoing conversation with God about the daily stuff of life.. prayer is nothing more than an ongoing and growing loving relationship with God the father, Son, and Holy Spirit” (  Prayer, Richard Foster, 1992).


R.T.
Toronto
Ontario