prayer – Abiding Quaker

^{Prayer is wholly out of the will of the creature, wholly out of the time of the creature, wholly out of the power of the creature, in the Spirit of the Father, who is the fountain of life, and giveth forth breathings of life to his child at his pleasure. –Isaac Penington}

^{This past week I received an email from someone who had recently discovered this blog and, as a result, also had visited the YouTube channel where there are recorded sessions of our Isaac Penington Study Group.1 He had listened to the 24th session in which our small group had discussed “prayer.” In his email, this reader had offered some of his thoughts on prayer, describing it as “a state of being. . . . a living in the Life,” and he went on to summarize: “prayer is receptivity to the operations of the Spirit on our being.”}

^{I felt}^{hesitant to accept his thoughts}^{unconditionally}^and^proceeded^to^identify^{the reason}^{behind my hesitation}^:

^Although^r^eceptiv^ity^to^the^Spirit^{is one element occurring in}^prayer^,^{it does}^not^{follow that}^{all receptivity to the Spirit}^{’s work on our being}^is^prayer^{. P}^{rayer is}^{a heightened state of communion with}^God^where^one’s^{inward being is}^{filled with}^the^Light^{of Christ.}^This^state^{is distinct from}^{our normal day-to-day consciousness}^{in which we may live with}^a^{fear of God, meaning a knowledge and}^{reliance upon}^Christ,^{the sure foundation of our life.}^If^the^transcendent^state^and^daily^{consciousness}^{are run together}^—^as^if^there^were^{no distinction between them}^—^then^{a problem may develop:}^{the transcendent}^{may be reduced}^to^something^{less than it is and normal consciousness}^{conflated with and raised}^up^into^{something more than}^can^be^{legitimately claim}^ed^{, which}^{was t}^{he first}^and^{is the}^ever-present^temptation.

^I^{ntending to}^ex^plain^{and support}^{my reason}^{in my response to this person,}^I^c^opied^{a passage from Fox’s}^Journal^{in which he describes his}^“veiled”^{consciousness}^,^{that is,}^{when he doesn’t}^{see Christ present yet}^nevertheless^feels^{firmly grounded}^{in him}^.^{Fox writes:}

^{And when at any time my condition was veiled, my secret belief was stayed firm, and hope underneath held me as an anchor in the bottom of the sea; and anchored my immortal soul to its Bishop, causing it to swim above the sea, the world where all the raging waves, foul weather, tempests, and temptations are.2}

^{(My response continued.)}^{How this state that Fox describes here differs from prayer is that a person can sense (have a “secret belief”) that he is grounded and preserved by Christ and therefore feel hope, while yet attending to all the various distractions and requirements necessitated by daily existence. In prayer, however, one’s eye is single, and, as a result, one’s whole body is full of light (Matt. 6:22). Prayer is a very focused (single-eyed) activity that brings one into an exalted (Light-filled) state. Jesus often goes to a mountain to pray (Mt. 14:23; Lk. 6:12; Mk. 6:46), and this is a way of saying he ascends into a different space spiritually as well as literally. The}^{Transfiguaration}^{occurs following Jesus’s and the disciples’ ascent up the mountain; it is there that Jesus appears full of light, which is different from the state Fox describes as his}^“veiled”^{condition. So, you see I distinguish between my daily condition where I must attend to many things}^(distracted^{, veiled)}^{while still feeling}^constantly^{undergirded by the Bishop of my soul, on the one hand, and, on the other, the high, focused,}^unveiled,^{Light-filled state of prayer.}

^{The following is a transcript of a portion of the Penington Study Group’s discussion on prayer, Session #24. This segment of the discussion (31:10) looks at the Lord’s Prayer as a means to prepare one to be lifted from regular consciousness into spiritual awareness. The transcript has been edited lightly for clarity. The complete discussion can be heard here:}

^{I think it’s significant that Jesus gives us a prayer to say in the Lord’s Prayer, and how this can be a transition or a fulcrum for moving into that wordless waiting upon the Lord. Those few verses function as a pathway, and what I find is}^that^they^{allow me—as I focus on the words—to concentrate my attention in a way that is the state the mind needs to be in, in order to be in that open}^,^{waiting state. I think I’ve said this before here, but I find that}^I^{intensely focus upon each phrase and proceed}^through^{the prayer phrase by phrase. My intent is to}^{feel that}^{each phrase}^{has been incorporated into my mind, so that my mind is focused and has made meaning of that phrase:}^that^{I’ve come into contact with the meaning of it. You know how you can say words, and there isn’t meaning, but sometimes when you say words, there is meaning. So what we’re looking for in that process is to get a strong sense of meaning in the words that we are saying.}

^{One time my family was visiting a Quaker up in Maine}^,^{a Quaker family up in Maine}^,^{and there wasn’t any meeting nearby so}^when^{Sunday came}^,^{we went to a Baptist}^c^hurch^,^{and in that service the}^m^{inister led the congregation}ⁱⁿ^{reciting the Lord’s Prayer in unison}^.^W^{e all stood up}^,^{and we all began to say the Lord’s Praye}^{r. M}^{y daughter}^,^{who was about seven at that time}^,^{pulled me down so that she could whisper in my ear}^,^{and she said}^{, “T}^{hey sound like zombies}^.”^A^{nd they did}^,^{because there was there was no life in in those words that were being said}^{; t}^{here was no}^meaning^;^{it was just a recitation of words that everybody was familiar with and nobody was putting any meaning into them}^.

^{I think how this Lord’s Prayer can help us is that if we take each phrase and just focus on it so intensely}^,^{the meaning comes to us}^.^A^{nd when each phrase has had that happen}^,^{then we move to the next phrase}^;^{and we proceed through that prayer one phrase at a time}^,^{allowing it to gather meaning for us}^.^{I find}^that^{by the time I get to the end of that prayer}^,^{it’s like I am lifted off from the world into a spiritual realm where there are no words}^,^{but there’s just}^S^pirit^:^{it’s almost like being launched into a spiritual place}^.^T^{hose words in that prayer are arranged to help us move from our normal frame of mind into a place that we can receive God}^,^{that we’re prepared to receive God}^.^A^{ll we can do is prepare}^,^{and that prayer does do that}^.

^A^{nother part of that process for me is if I lose my concentration in any of those verses}^,^{I feel morally obligated to go back to the beginning and start over}^.^T^{here needs to be a sustained concentration}^,^{because at the end of it what we are is just focused concentration waiting}^,^{and what works against us is our distractions}^:^our^{tendency to become distracted}^.^So^{what we want to do is concentrate and focus}^,^{and the difficulty is that we’re not focusing on a particular object or a particular thing}^;^{we’re focused on waiting}^,^{so it becomes}^that^{we’re focused on an absence of object}^.

Epigraph. Penington, Works, 2:345. Isaac Penington Study Group, 9/18/24, YouTube.
Nickalls, Journal, 14.

St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata, Jan Van Eyck, c. 1438

Tag: prayer

Some Observations on Prayer