
If you limit your knowledge to a small area, chances are that will be the extent of your vision. It will also be the extent of your praying. If however, you seize opportunities to learn about different places and people, to find out how other people saw life and understood reality, you would find your knowledge expanding. Not only that, your vision would also expand. You will remove the limits from your praying.
You learn a lot from a person’s praying. If someone heard you praying, what would they learn?
Expanding the limits of your praying
Martin Luther King Jr had a very large and inclusive vision of the beloved community. It is true that he embraced a piety that was both personal and social. It is also true that while God as revealed in Jesus Christ was his foundation and his lens for viewing the world and filtering what he encountered. Nevertheless, he read widely, traveled, and learned from many people of various backgrounds and creeds. He did not limit himself when it came to learning. He was curious and sought to understand the competing realities around him.
This curiosity and learning influenced his prayers and vision. They formed a powerful mix that propelled him to self-less action for the rights of Black people in particular, and oppressed peoples in general. Here is an example of the praying that fueled his actions, which in turn was influenced by his learning and actions:
“Eternal God out of whose mind this great cosmic universe we bless thee. Help us to seek that which is high, noble and Good. Help us in the moment of difficult decision. Help us to work with renewed vigor for a warless world, a better distribution of wealth, and a brotherhood that transcends race or color.”
Do you pray such cosmic prayers? If you do, is your praying fuel for your action or just a token nod to the world?
Go past the limits in your praying
Such praying becomes fuel when you’re learning and allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to you out of that learning, Then, that wider vision emerges and your specific call within that vision. It calls for a disciplined life of praying and study that removes the narrow confines of thinking and doing.
Moving beyond small areas does not happen by chance. They happen by intent. Daily SIPpers is committed to working with you to have a broader vision of God and life and how you fit within that vision so that your praying is not limited. It is our desire, prayer, and for which we work at SurrenderInPrayer, that you would: