J. C. Albert has to be one of the greatest followers of Jesus I’ve ever met. I met him in India in 2012. He was the most open, loving, friendly guy. And he had these wonderful stories to tell of adventures with Jesus. He has visited and shared the good news of Jesus Christ in nearly 3,000 tribal villages in India. He has walked nearly 10,000 miles for Jesus. He’s been chased by tigers and bears and by Hindu extremists. He has such amazing stories. Every need he has had since beginning in ministry in the 1980s has been met without him ever asking anyone for anything. And here is what he says about that in his little book on evangelism:
“Prayer is the fuel that runs our ministry. Every experience, trial and inspiration I have recorded is a result of prayer. The foremost thing I learned in ministry is prayer followed by Bible study. Prayer empowers and gives vision.”
Maybe for the sake of improving my vision, God is leading me more deeply into the place of prayer. In the last few months, I've been on a journey with God centered on intimacy. It started late last year when the Lord spoke and challenged me to give my whole heart to him.
On the quest to understand what that means (and at this point, I can only say that I realize just how much I don't know, and nothing at all about what I know), I have discovered several interesting things about prayer. I learned to pray with beads as a more effective kind of intercession. I've recently rediscovered the richness of fasting. And I've found in the Psalms a fresh vocabulary for prayer.
I believe the psalms can help us all find a better prayer life. Here, we find the all-too-human wrestlings of David, a man after God's heart. We hear honest cries for help and deep, worshipful devotion. We get a full spectrum of emotions, not the least of which is anger. What we don't hear in David's conversations with God is anything remotely rote. No recitations. No empty wish list. No shallow musings.
These are prayers for real people. They challenge us to think deeply and honestly and give us permission to cry out, to feel, to be intimate, to give our whole heart.
In Lynn Anderson’s book, They Smell Like Sheep, he offers several practical tips for those who want to learn how pray the Psalms.
- First, read it through aloud, slowly and thoughtfully, to get its sense.
- Second, pray it aloud slowly, reflectively, in the first person (as your own prayer for yourself). Don’t hurry. Wallow in it. Savor it. Mean it.
- Third, pray it aloud slowly, reflectively, in the second person (as an intercessory prayer on behalf of some other person).
- Don’t end your prayer when the psalm ends. Let this psalm springboard you into the rest of your day’s prayers for current issues and persons that the psalm has brought to your heart. Let the psalm shape the day’s prayer list.
- Stay there until God shows up.
In my own experience, this is good advice, especially #5. Stay there until God shows up. If he doesn't immediately, he will eventually.
May God meet you in the place of prayer today, like deep calling to deep.