Thomas A. Langford - "Prayer as Meditation" (July 7, 1963)
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Transcript
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(choral music) | 0:03 | |
- | The wise thing which he did | 0:05 |
when he felt despondent, Psalm 142: | 0:07 | |
"I cry with my voice to the Lord, | 0:12 | |
with my voice I make supplication to the Lord. | 0:15 | |
I pour out my complaints before Him. | 0:19 | |
I tell my trouble before Him. | 0:22 | |
When my spirit is faint, thou knowest my way. | 0:25 | |
In the path where I walk, they have hidden a trap for me. | 0:30 | |
I look to the right and watch, | 0:34 | |
but there is none who takes notice of me. | 0:36 | |
No refuge remains to me. | 0:39 | |
No man cares for me. | 0:43 | |
I cried to thee, O Lord. | 0:47 | |
I said, 'Thou art my refuge, | 0:49 | |
my portion in the land of the living.' | 0:52 | |
Give heed to my cry for I am brought very low. | 0:56 | |
Deliver me from my persecutors, | 1:01 | |
for they are too strong for me. | 1:03 | |
Bring me out of prison that I may give thanks to thy name. | 1:07 | |
The righteous will surround me, | 1:12 | |
for thou will deal bountifully with me." | 1:15 | |
Here ends the lesson. | 1:19 | |
(stirring organ music) | 1:24 | |
(stirring choral music) | 2:10 | |
The Lord be with you. | 4:54 | |
Let us pray. | 4:58 | |
Almighty God, whose glory the heavens are telling, | 5:00 | |
whose power the earth and sea declare, | 5:05 | |
and whose greatness is revealed | 5:09 | |
in all feeling and thinking creatures everywhere, | 5:10 | |
to thee belongeth praise, adoration, | 5:15 | |
honor and blessing, now and forever. | 5:18 | |
Lord God eternal, holy, just, and merciful, | 5:23 | |
we glorify thee for thy saving love | 5:29 | |
revealed in Jesus Christ, | 5:31 | |
and for thy living presence made known by the Holy Spirit. | 5:34 | |
O Lord, as we call to mind | 5:40 | |
those who have brought great good to mankind, | 5:43 | |
we thank thee for those of every race | 5:48 | |
who have been patient searchers after knowledge, | 5:51 | |
for those of every nation | 5:55 | |
who have been prophets of righteousness, | 5:56 | |
for the saints in every generation | 6:00 | |
whose lives have furnished an unbroken witness | 6:02 | |
to the meaning of Christian living. | 6:06 | |
We express thanks to thee | 6:09 | |
for the humble folk of every vocation, | 6:11 | |
whose names are forgotten on earth, | 6:14 | |
but whose faithfulness was not in vain. | 6:17 | |
Heavenly Father, who has given unto thy Son Jesus Christ | 6:22 | |
the name which is above every name, | 6:26 | |
and has taught us that there is no other | 6:29 | |
whereby we may be saved, | 6:32 | |
mercifully grant that as thy faithful people | 6:34 | |
have comfort and peace in Christ's name, | 6:37 | |
so may we ever strive | 6:41 | |
to proclaim it unto all men everywhere. | 6:42 | |
Grant us grace to desire thee with our whole hearts, | 6:47 | |
that so desiring we may seek and find thee, | 6:51 | |
and so finding thee may love thee, | 6:55 | |
and loving thee may hate those sins | 6:59 | |
from which thou dost seek to redeem us. | 7:01 | |
Open our minds to the counsels of eternal wisdom. | 7:06 | |
Let our hunger and thirst be for righteousness, | 7:10 | |
that we may be filled with the bread of heaven. | 7:13 | |
Grant us grace to seek first thy kingdom | 7:18 | |
and the faith to believe | 7:22 | |
that thou wilt add unto us all things needful. | 7:23 | |
O God, we pray thee to maintain thy church | 7:29 | |
in truth and patience. | 7:32 | |
That her ministers may be faithful, her people loyal, | 7:35 | |
her fellowship united, her message true to the gospel, | 7:40 | |
her weapons always heavenly, and her warfare spiritual. | 7:45 | |
Grant that we may not merely talk about Christian unity | 7:52 | |
and then go our separate and selfish ways, | 7:55 | |
filled with haughty spiritual pride, | 7:58 | |
but give us grace to crucify our haughty pride | 8:02 | |
and really join together | 8:06 | |
to become the unified body of Christ. | 8:07 | |
We pray thee to bless this congregation of thy people, | 8:11 | |
gathered here in this interdenominational chapel, | 8:15 | |
coming from diverse backgrounds. | 8:19 | |
May the unity of heart and soul we discover here in Christ | 8:22 | |
spread throughout the Duke campus and throughout the world. | 8:27 | |
Holy and eternal spirit, | 8:32 | |
thou who art the source of true comfort, | 8:35 | |
be thou this day the present help of all who turn to thee, | 8:38 | |
whether hurt or ashamed, whether sick or disheartened, | 8:43 | |
and when by the power of the great physician | 8:49 | |
we are strong again, | 8:52 | |
be thou a light beyond our pleasures and selfish ways | 8:53 | |
to guide us into paths of service, | 8:58 | |
of sharing, and of active gratitude. | 9:01 | |
O God, our heavenly Father, | 9:06 | |
consecrate our lives to thy will, | 9:09 | |
giving us such purity of heart, such depth of faith, | 9:12 | |
such steadfastness of purpose | 9:17 | |
that we may come to think thy thoughts after thee, | 9:20 | |
and to walk in the footsteps of thy Son, | 9:23 | |
our Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we humbly pray. | 9:26 | |
Amen. | 9:30 | |
(serene organ music) | 9:38 | |
(powerful choral music) | 12:16 | |
O God, from whom every good gift cometh, | 16:02 | |
we present these gifts unto thee | 16:06 | |
as a token of the total dedication of our lives | 16:09 | |
to the service of Christ. | 16:12 | |
In his name, amen. | 16:14 | |
(subtle organ music) | 16:20 | |
- | There's always a temptation | 16:48 |
when preaching to a college congregation | 16:50 | |
to attempt to give expression to one's most profound | 16:54 | |
or especially clever thoughts. | 16:57 | |
And I must confess that I am victimized by this temptation | 17:01 | |
in spite of the dearth of profundity | 17:05 | |
or cleverness on my own part. | 17:08 | |
But today I want to discuss with you a very simple subject, | 17:12 | |
and have decided to restrain my pride | 17:20 | |
and set aside all such ambitions | 17:22 | |
in order to speak about prayer. | 17:26 | |
In launching such a discussion, I'm aware of the fact | 17:34 | |
that the fundamental problem involved | 17:37 | |
is that prayer is one of the most discussed | 17:43 | |
and least utilized topics in the world. | 17:49 | |
And in one sense we've had enough talk about this topic. | 17:56 | |
If it does have importance, then what we need | 18:02 | |
is some way of so gripping the Christian conscience | 18:06 | |
that people will begin to practice what they know. | 18:09 | |
At the same time, there are many who have a desire to pray | 18:16 | |
but who have not found a meaningful way to do so. | 18:20 | |
I'm sometimes surprised at the many people | 18:26 | |
who have been persistent in their efforts, | 18:30 | |
in spite of the lack of reality or the little meaning | 18:33 | |
which they have found in prayer. | 18:38 | |
And today I want to speak especially to this group, | 18:42 | |
to those who have persevered with the hope of discovery. | 18:46 | |
But first of all, let me make a brief description of prayer. | 18:53 | |
Prayer has its beginning in God, not in man. | 19:02 | |
In the life of prayer, as in all the rest of life, | 19:08 | |
we are dependent upon the initiating grace of God. | 19:13 | |
Only as God speaks are we able to respond. | 19:18 | |
Only as the words of creation and covenant are uttered, | 19:23 | |
are we enabled and impelled to reply. | 19:29 | |
God speaks. | 19:37 | |
According to the biblical thought, | 19:40 | |
this is the act which calls life into being. | 19:43 | |
First, in the Book of Genesis, | 19:47 | |
we found the creation dependent upon God's pronouncement, | 19:49 | |
"Let there be." | 19:53 | |
He who is the originator calls His creation into existence. | 19:56 | |
God's word bodies forth the world. | 20:03 | |
So with humble gratitude, the believer confesses, | 20:08 | |
"Our world is because He created it. | 20:12 | |
I am because He has given me life." | 20:18 | |
Again, God speaks, this time to man. | 20:26 | |
The Creator wills to live in converse with His creatures. | 20:32 | |
Not only has God created man, He has created him | 20:37 | |
in such a way that man is made for fellowship with God. | 20:41 | |
And who are we that He should call and signal our reply? | 20:48 | |
His creatures, whom a word did form | 20:55 | |
and made our lips to cry. | 21:00 | |
Some people disparage the stories | 21:07 | |
in the early chapters of Genesis | 21:09 | |
because God is depicted as walking in the Garden | 21:10 | |
and talking with men. | 21:13 | |
At one time, it was fashionable | 21:16 | |
to dismiss this as primitive anthropomorphism. | 21:18 | |
That is to say it was dismissed because it was an attempt | 21:22 | |
to describe God in the likeness of men. | 21:26 | |
But to so quickly set aside even this rustic expression | 21:30 | |
may issue in a misunderstanding of the point | 21:35 | |
these passages are attempting to make. | 21:37 | |
Namely, God created man for relationship. | 21:41 | |
It was a profound insight of our English forefathers | 21:49 | |
when they in the Elizabethan period | 21:53 | |
used the word conversation to mean life. | 21:56 | |
For life in the sense which God intended it | 22:02 | |
comes to its fulfillment when it is conversation, | 22:06 | |
when it is lived in reciprocal relation with the Creator. | 22:10 | |
In the first instance then, we can claim that man prays | 22:17 | |
because it is only in such meeting | 22:20 | |
that he actualizes the full meaning of the life | 22:24 | |
which is given him by God. | 22:26 | |
To pray is to express the need | 22:30 | |
for communion with our Creator | 22:32 | |
and the universality of prayer expresses the universal | 22:37 | |
though sometime vague awareness of this fact. | 22:41 | |
However, as the biblical story unravels, | 22:49 | |
the failure of man to remember God | 22:51 | |
comes to dominate the scene. | 22:55 | |
Man, in his love for himself | 22:58 | |
cuts off the possibility for fully shared life, | 22:59 | |
either with God or with his neighbor. | 23:03 | |
Rather than speak in response to God, | 23:08 | |
man attempts to hide and would prefer not to answer. | 23:11 | |
Man's tragedy is that he becomes dumb towards God. | 23:16 | |
Silence becomes his fig leaf. | 23:23 | |
He does not want to speak. | 23:27 | |
Or if he does speak, it is as Milton says, | 23:30 | |
"With no friendly voice." | 23:35 | |
But again God speaks, this time to a man named Abram. | 23:39 | |
God's hesed, His steadfast love, | 23:46 | |
does not leave men in their self-imposed isolation | 23:50 | |
or in their spiritual silence. | 23:53 | |
God calls a man named Abram to covenant. | 23:56 | |
He recalls him to the forsaken fellowship. | 24:00 | |
But the response of this man and of his heirs, | 24:06 | |
as is the response of mankind both early and late, | 24:10 | |
is at best sporadic, | 24:14 | |
and, with rare exceptions, embarrassed stammering. | 24:17 | |
And again, God speaks. | 24:25 | |
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. | 24:30 | |
In this embodiment of his Word, | 24:36 | |
God's self-vocalization is complete. | 24:38 | |
The definitive utterance has been made | 24:42 | |
and God has opened Himself. | 24:44 | |
He has revealed Himself. | 24:47 | |
He has given Himself for community and for fellowship. | 24:48 | |
Some men have marveled that God has persisted | 24:54 | |
and are humbled to realize that this persistence | 24:58 | |
has been in spite of our silence. | 25:03 | |
The speaking of God is the beginning of prayer, | 25:08 | |
for this is the event which evokes our answering. | 25:12 | |
Only because God has spoken, | 25:17 | |
and thereby created us in His image, | 25:21 | |
is prayer possible and necessary. | 25:24 | |
Only because God has continued to speak, | 25:28 | |
and to break through our deafness and our dumbness, | 25:31 | |
are we able to respond. | 25:36 | |
What we've been attempting to say | 25:40 | |
is that prayer is communion with God | 25:42 | |
in which God's Word has the initiative. | 25:45 | |
And we who hear that Word are incited to answer. | 25:48 | |
Consequently, what we have to do | 25:54 | |
is first learn to listen to that Word | 25:55 | |
and then learn how to respond. | 26:00 | |
Faith is born when we answer | 26:06 | |
the speaking of God with our acceptance, | 26:08 | |
but faith is nourished | 26:11 | |
only as we continue in this relationship | 26:13 | |
and share life fully with our Creator. | 26:17 | |
Prayer is the primary way in which faith is made concrete, | 26:22 | |
and it is the primary way in which faith matures. | 26:26 | |
When prayer stops, faith becomes stunted, | 26:31 | |
or perhaps more exactly, when prayer stops, | 26:35 | |
it is already a sign of the failure of faith. | 26:40 | |
As we've been describing it, | 26:46 | |
prayer in its primary meaning is a way of being. | 26:48 | |
To pray is to express the fact | 26:52 | |
that we are aware that we exist | 26:54 | |
as one who lives by communion with God. | 26:55 | |
Therefore prayer is a way of living. | 27:00 | |
It is a way of taking a stance toward all the rest of life | 27:03 | |
because we've already taken a certain stance towards God. | 27:07 | |
To pray means that life has become conversation | 27:14 | |
and that it continues only through this conversation. | 27:18 | |
Now may we go on to suggest ways for maturation | 27:26 | |
in the experience of prayer. | 27:29 | |
Normally, when we think of prayer, | 27:33 | |
we think of talking with God. | 27:34 | |
This is the most spontaneous level of communication. | 27:38 | |
The man of prayer lifts his voice and prays | 27:42 | |
in the gratitude, in penance, | 27:45 | |
in petition, and in intercession. | 27:49 | |
The full heart overflows and the words spoken are legion. | 27:53 | |
And our use of the theme conversation | 27:59 | |
probably helps to reinforce this idea. | 28:01 | |
But as in human relationships, speaking to one another | 28:06 | |
is not the only way to express fellowship. | 28:09 | |
And often the conversation of life which is most profound | 28:13 | |
is not that of speaking. | 28:16 | |
Actually, the use of the word converse to mean to talk with | 28:20 | |
is rather recent in the English language. | 28:28 | |
Its more classical meaning is to consort with, | 28:32 | |
to be familiar with, or to live with. | 28:38 | |
It is really a loss that in the Protestant tradition, | 28:46 | |
we've often limited the meaning of prayer | 28:49 | |
to simply talking with God and usually talking to God. | 28:51 | |
This is of course the most immediate expression of prayer, | 28:58 | |
but it is not all that there is to prayer. | 29:00 | |
And I'd like to suggest at least one other possibility. | 29:04 | |
Following traditional language, | 29:09 | |
I want to speak of prayer as meditation. | 29:10 | |
To meditate may be described as thinking with God. | 29:17 | |
An analogy from personal relationships may be helpful | 29:23 | |
in describing what takes place in this experience. | 29:27 | |
It's a common phenomenon | 29:33 | |
that two people who are friends or who are in love | 29:36 | |
sometimes find that their relationship | 29:40 | |
does not progress as fruitfully | 29:43 | |
when they simply stand face to face and look at one another | 29:46 | |
as it does when they look at something else, | 29:51 | |
some third object, together. | 29:54 | |
Perhaps there is a time in friendship or in courtship | 29:59 | |
where one needs to look very directly at the other. | 30:02 | |
Love's blindness may result from seeing so deeply | 30:07 | |
that surface appearances are no longer important. | 30:10 | |
But it should not issue | 30:16 | |
from refusing to look with discerning eyes at the other. | 30:18 | |
Nevertheless, love does not mature | 30:25 | |
simply by contemplating the special characteristics | 30:27 | |
of the loved one. | 30:30 | |
For in the last analysis, you neither enhance the other | 30:33 | |
or your relationship with the other, | 30:37 | |
when you simply admire her as Spenser did his fairy queen. | 30:41 | |
Far more likely is love to be given wings | 30:48 | |
if two people find that they can share common interests | 30:52 | |
or undertake common tasks. | 30:56 | |
When the attention of friends or lovers | 31:01 | |
is focused upon some shared object of interest, | 31:03 | |
especially when that object has the quality of truth | 31:07 | |
or beauty or goodness, the companions find | 31:10 | |
that they're intensely drawn to one another | 31:15 | |
by this common focus. | 31:18 | |
This unity is vividly realized | 31:21 | |
when two people who enjoy music listen together, | 31:23 | |
when people who enjoy art look together, | 31:29 | |
when parents attend their children together, | 31:34 | |
or when two religious persons worship together. | 31:40 | |
What started as two individuals doing a thing in common | 31:47 | |
ends with a sense of extreme closeness | 31:51 | |
and a vital community. | 31:53 | |
And the same experience can happen in prayer. | 31:57 | |
We can think with God. | 32:02 | |
We can read with God. | 32:08 | |
We can look at the world around us | 32:13 | |
to sense the presence of God. | 32:17 | |
We can think over some idea with God. | 32:21 | |
This is something of what meditation can mean. | 32:29 | |
Let me be very practical for a few minutes | 32:34 | |
and make a few concrete suggestions. | 32:36 | |
I'm somewhat hesitant to add these comments | 32:39 | |
because they can be misconstrued and are almost trite. | 32:43 | |
Nonetheless, it is an effort to be of practical help. | 32:48 | |
Prayer can take place when we relax | 32:54 | |
and think with God, for instance, about some idea or word. | 32:59 | |
Some people have found it helpful to write down | 33:08 | |
a word such as honor, or peace, | 33:11 | |
or joy, or truth, | 33:16 | |
and then turn it over in their minds, | 33:21 | |
jotting down ideas as they come. | 33:23 | |
And this can be a way of praying. | 33:28 | |
Another suggestion comes from Dr. Frank Laubach, | 33:35 | |
who tells of his effort to take the awareness of God | 33:39 | |
into every activity of his day. | 33:42 | |
So as he met each person, he uttered a silent prayer | 33:46 | |
for that person and for their encounter. | 33:50 | |
As he wrote each letter, he attempted to do it | 33:55 | |
with a prayer for the one to whom he wrote | 33:59 | |
and for the influence of what he wrote. | 34:03 | |
As he started each job, he asked that he might do it well, | 34:10 | |
and that he might express God's will in doing it. | 34:17 | |
Meditation also has other possibilities. | 34:26 | |
Saint Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit movement, | 34:30 | |
suggested that one can be helped by forming a mental image | 34:36 | |
in order to center down in one's attention. | 34:41 | |
For instance, one can in his mind's eye | 34:46 | |
look upon the events for the life of Jesus | 34:50 | |
and reconstruct them in his imagination. | 34:54 | |
For instance, one can think of Jesus calling the disciples | 34:58 | |
and what He asked of them, | 35:02 | |
and then imagine himself as he responds to that call. | 35:04 | |
Or one might call to mind the crucifixion | 35:12 | |
and in his mind's eye see himself stand before the cross. | 35:18 | |
Or one can imagine himself | 35:26 | |
in some familiar and worshipful place, | 35:28 | |
and then he can picture friends or homes | 35:34 | |
or situations about which he's concerned. | 35:36 | |
And in his imagination picture himself | 35:41 | |
as holding these in the presence of God. | 35:46 | |
Still another way to meditate | 35:55 | |
is to choose some attribute of God and concentrate upon it. | 35:58 | |
For instance, one may choose the omnipotence of God | 36:03 | |
and through the day repeat to oneself in many ways, | 36:08 | |
"God is able. | 36:13 | |
He is all-powerful." | 36:17 | |
Or one may take the phrase, "God is truth." | 36:21 | |
Or, "God is purity." | 36:26 | |
And during the day he can come back to this theme | 36:30 | |
and see how it applies to the various situations | 36:34 | |
in which he finds himself. | 36:37 | |
Finally, several persons I know collect things | 36:44 | |
which encourage them in their spiritual development | 36:48 | |
in order to concentrate their thoughts. | 36:50 | |
And it might be that you would find it helpful | 36:54 | |
to copy a hymn or a short sentence or two | 36:56 | |
which calls an important truth to mind. | 37:00 | |
You may want to write down the names of people | 37:05 | |
or of things in which you're interested. | 37:08 | |
You may want to write your own prayers | 37:12 | |
or keep your meditations upon some idea | 37:14 | |
and go back to these occasionally | 37:19 | |
as you attempt to concentrate and to meditate with God. | 37:23 | |
These are only suggestions, | 37:31 | |
and I hope somewhat practical suggestions, | 37:32 | |
for I'm convinced that only | 37:36 | |
as we learn to pray more adequately | 37:37 | |
will we enhance our community with God | 37:39 | |
and keep its meaning fresh. | 37:42 | |
May I close by warning you that we must not go to prayer | 37:47 | |
with a fixed idea of what must happen. | 37:51 | |
Often we are so pragmatic that we go to meet God | 37:56 | |
with the determination that this or that must take place. | 37:59 | |
But the highest expression is to be found | 38:04 | |
when we relax into His presence | 38:07 | |
and are satisfied to simply be with Him. | 38:11 | |
Prayer is fellowship and true fellowship always has a way | 38:16 | |
of creating new opportunities | 38:21 | |
for further enhancement of relationship. | 38:24 | |
Genuine community always opens new possibilities | 38:29 | |
for further communion, | 38:33 | |
just as genuine friendship or love is always created. | 38:35 | |
To pray is not to determine what will happen, | 38:44 | |
only where it will happen, in the presence of God. | 38:49 | |
We do not choose at all about the experience of prayer | 38:55 | |
except in choosing to be with Him. | 38:58 | |
We do not stipulate what must result. | 39:01 | |
That is not for us to control. | 39:05 | |
The Father may have different things for us. | 39:09 | |
He may take us into the night, | 39:13 | |
when we will be deprived of our calm assurance. | 39:16 | |
We may have to share the woes of the world | 39:21 | |
or the agony of a brother in need. | 39:25 | |
Perchance we shall be with Him in joy | 39:28 | |
or in the reward of a prodigal son come home. | 39:30 | |
But through it all, we make no stipulations, | 39:35 | |
that is not our part. | 39:38 | |
We are invited to come. | 39:40 | |
God has spoken. | 39:43 | |
And we know the urgency of that invitation | 39:46 | |
by the manger and the cross. | 39:50 | |
And in prayer, we come. | 39:55 | |
We come to God and find our life | 40:00 | |
through conversation with Him. | 40:06 | |
O Lord, with thy disciples of old, | 40:15 | |
we ask thee to teach us to pray. | 40:19 | |
Thou has spoken thy creative and recreative word for man | 40:25 | |
and we would respond by prayerful devotion to thee. | 40:31 | |
In Jesus's name. | 40:38 | |
Now may the grace and the peace | 40:42 | |
of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit | 40:45 | |
be with you always. | 40:52 | |
Amen. | 40:56 | |
♪ Amen, amen ♪ | 41:02 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 41:12 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 41:20 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 41:29 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 41:36 |
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