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Teaching Students to Pray

This is the time of year when all of our leaders are working extra hard to get this thing off the ground. We are tired, in a good way! I like to envision us as a small gear trying to turn a large one. We have to spin and spin and spin to get that thing turning, but once we do, it's momentum can carry us for a while!

A major theme in my ministry of late is teaching students to pray. I've lately been pondering this reflection from Eugene Peterson, a long-time pastor:

“My primary educational task as a pastor was to teach people to pray. I did not abandon, and will not abandon, the task of teaching about the faith, teaching the content of the gospel, the historical background of biblical writings, the history of God’s people. … The more I worked with people at or near the centers of their lives where God and the human, faith and the absurd, love and indifference were tangled in daily traffic jams, the less it seemed that the way I had been going about teaching made much difference, and the more that teaching them to pray did.”

Over the past couple of weeks I've encountered students who feel their faith is dry and emotionless, students with powerful emotions but who don't know how to take those emotions to God, students who feel like their relationship with God is purely intellectual. So over and over I've been sharing about my own experience with the Prayer of Examen and how I've practiced it. This has been a very meaningful practice for me, especially during harder or more emotional seasons. Here's what I typed up for one student and then found myself sharing with another every day or so because it addressed all these concerns. I encourage you to try it!

Prayer of Examen

Brief Description: While more formally developed by Ignatius of Loyola, this pattern of prayer crosses history and traditions, being found in various forms within early church writings, to later Wesleyan/Methodist approaches, and throughout many others throughout the world.

It is a way of bringing your day into conversation with God. In this approach, a person daily renews their perspective in light of God's calling, remembering the day and inviting the Spirit to provide discernment.

This relatively brief pause is a cue to re-orient if you have fallen aside into sin or chaos or simply distraction. It can also be an encouragement, to help you see how God was with you. It offers a moment to see if there are trends of growth or tendencies that are best addressed early. 

The Prayer of Examen offers a way to encourage daily reflection on God's work, God's grace, and your calling

I just do around 10-15 min. You basically run back through your day 3 times, each a bit more intense. At first you just remember what has happened but then you think more deeply about how you experienced and responded to different things emotionally, mentally, and through your actions. I like to think of it as processing my day with my dear friend. Who also happens to be Lord of the universe. :)

There are tons of instructions on how to do it online (and variations), but here's the ones I've used:

Pattern:

• Presence - spend time in God's presence to calm/quiet yourself
• Invitation to the Holy Spirit - ask the Holy Spirit for discernment
• Gratitude - review your day with gratitude
• Review - review your day again, objectively, without judgment and without rationalizing/justifying, taking time to experience all the range of emotions in the presence of God. Ask yourself questions that prompt you to consider both times of consolation and desolation (When was I most loving/most able to receive love? When was I hurtful/unloving? When did I not feel loved? When was I resistant to love?)
• Examine -Review your day again, examining your thoughts, reflections, and experiences. Here you can let God speak to what you have done and felt. What does he want to say? You might examine your thoughts about current events (whether large or small) in light of practices of Christian community (forgiveness, reconciliation, peacemaking, truth-telling, testimony, and discernment). 
• Response - allow God to invite you to respond in some way to what you have seen and experienced during your time of prayer; be open to receiving what God has for you
• Presence - you can end by just being in God’s presence, knowing you are loved

My Guys 

Each year I get to mentor pairs of young leaders as they take on the task of recruiting and then mentoring a group of young men, helping them learn to devote their lives to Jesus. I've got an amazing crew this year!

Sitting with Paul and Felipe at our favorite McDonalds. These guys are a joy and so eager to learn God's word! We are studying Romans together in addition to covering leadership skills.

My other pair is Kole and Jacob. Jacob is a senior who I've been looking forward to getting more time with for years. Meeting with Kole is a special joy as he is the son of my dear friend John Von Runnen.

I got to visit Paul and Felipe's core this week. 20 guys showed up and another few couldn't come! These guys were so real about sin and also about how they are striving to live for God. Others aren't Christians yet, and I'm pumped that their first experience of Christian community was so honest and real and full of love and acceptance! Please pray for these young men to become or mature as disciples of Jesus!

Student Testimony