Prayer, as modeled by Jesus, invites us into a dynamic and multifaceted relationship with God. At Formation Church, we describe the Prayer Practice through four movements:
- Talking to God
- Talking with God
- Listening to God
- Being with God
Each movement reveals a different dimension of a follower of Jesus’ prayer life. This week, we focus on Talking with God.
This second movement is about moving from reciting pre-made prayers (Talking to God) to improvisation (Talking with God). Think about when you first learned to speak with adults or other people as a child. When you’re first learning to have a conversation with another person you start by reciting what your parents teach you — “Please.” “Thank you.” “It’s been nice to speak with you.” Then, you migrate to just be in the flow of the conversation, volleying back and forth with the other person. This is the same way in Prayer. There are three expressions:
- Gratitude: Talking with God about what is good in your life and the world. This is the condition of your heart in prayer.
- Lament: Talking with God about what is evil, painful, or broken in your life and the world. This is being real with God about the pain and suffering that we carry in our heart.
- Ask: Talking with God about what you or others want or need. This includes both petition (for yourself) and intercession (for others).
Here’s the key takeaway:
Our journey of spiritual formation is built on relationship. Like when a newborn child first speaks to their parents, we begin by praying pre-made prayers—like the Lord’s Prayer or the Psalms—which shape our hearts. But as we mature, we learn to speak with God.
And in this “with,” something sacred happens: we are being spiritually formed into the person God desires us to become.