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Bloom Prayer Chapters 19-21 Suffering, Authoritative and Radical prayers from Bloom (in)courage on Vimeo.

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Preface and Chapter 1 (Simple Prayer)

Chapters 2 and 3 (Prayers of the Forsaken and Examen)

Chapters 4 and 5 (Prayers of Tears and Relinquishment)

Chapters 6 and 7 (Prayers of Formation and Covenant)

Chapters 8 and 9 (Prayers of Adoration and Rest)

Chapters 10 and 11 (Sacramental and Unceasing Prayer)

Chapters 12-14 (Prayer of the Heart, Meditative and Contemplative Prayers)

Chapters 15 and 16 (Ordinary and Petitionary prayers)

Chapters 17 and 18 (Intercessory and Healing prayers)

Today we’ll close out our Prayer book study by taking a brief walk through the last three chapters; Foster never eases up as we explore so many facets to prayer.

Prayer of Suffering

(pp. 217-219)

• totally other-centered
• when we ask God to use  our difficulties redemptively
• voluntarily taking in the griefs and sorrows of others in order to set them free (p. 217)
• invited by Christ to join Him in this way of praying
• has purpose and meaning
• enriches the lives of others and brings healing to the world
• standing with people in their sin and sorrow, right in the middle of their mess
• Joy, not misery, is the compelling energy behind redemptive suffering

For those of you familiar with Sara Frankl‘s story, don’t you agree that she was well acquainted with this prayer?  That “God was using (her) for the greater good of all”? (p. 219)  She was such a willing example (and if you don’t know her story, you might want to click that link or look for her old posts on (in)courage.)

The Sofa Girls shared the beautiful concentration camp story on p. 224, but I think it’s helpful to touch on a few other topics in this chapter:

Value of Redemptive Suffering (pp. 219-221)

• Saves us from a superficial triumphalism….  There is a triumph that is in Christ, but it goes through suffering, not around it.
• Suffering is not for nothing!  God takes it and uses it for something beautiful…beyond anything we can imagine.
• Our hearts are enlarged and sensitized by suffering…. We endure the agony that prepares us to enter into the anguish of others.

“We do not present our supplication before you on the ground of our righteousness, but on the ground of your mercies.”

We learn there is a passive (trials that come into the course of our daily lives) and active (when we voluntarily take into ourselves the griefs and sorrows of others in order to set them free) side to the Prayer of Suffering. (pp. 222-23)

One last mention I’ll share from this chapter was new idea to me regarding the difficulty we have with the Prayer of Suffering (p. 225); this is “due, in part, to our culture’s inability to reconcile struggle with love.  We assume a loving relationship by its very nature must be peaceful and harmonious, and yet even on a human level those things we care about the most deeply we argue for the most passionately.  Struggle is consistent with love, for it is an expression of our caring.”

Authoritative Prayer

• Not so much speaking to God as speaking for God.
• Not asking God to do something; rather, we are using the authority of God to command something done.
• Can be extremely dangerous.
• Must be marked by compassion, discernment and prudence.
• Discernment:  the divine ability to see what is actually going on and to know what needs to be done in any given situation (p. 231)
• Prudence:  “practical comment sense, taking the trouble to think out what you are doing and what is likely to come of it.” (C.S. Lewis, p. 232)
• Engaged in the warfare of the Spirit against the kingdom of darkness (p. 240)

In our culture this has been abused and/or underestimated or completely downplayed altogether.  Foster makes the point  that in Mark 11:23 Jesus “is not telling us to speak to God about the mountain; he is telling us to speak directly to the mountain.”

This is where the Sofa Girls make note of Foster’s remark on page 235, good to repeat here, “In my concern over falling off the deep end, I realized that I just might fall off the shallow end.”  We are not left to figure this out in the dark, Foster’s Commonsense Counsels on pp. 237-238 offer practical considerations.

Though I’ve heard rebukes in Jesus’ name often before, this chapter offered many new ideas.  On p. 238 the point that Authoritative Prayer moves in the opposite direction of other forms of prayer–from heaven to earth rather than earth to heaven.  I was able to better wrap my mind around the progression of this form of prayer when Foster broke down’s Paul’s description of spiritual warfare in Ephesians 6:

1. Christ’s heavenly position of authority (Eph. 1)
2. gives us our heavenly position of authority (Eph. 2)
3. which results in the ability to wage the warfare of the Lamb against all principalities and powers (Eph. 6)

(p. 239)

And our weapons of power (Eph. 6:13-18)

• truth
• righteousness
• peace
• faith
• Holy Spirit
• prayer

“Spiritual warfare is not something we talk about; it is something we do.”  So how?  By:

• breaking all the destructive vows that lie over the lives of people.
• taking authority over the sicknesses of mind, body and spirit
• coming against every “mountain” that hinders our progress in God
• demon expulsion
• coming against social evil and institutional injustice

It “is done in the spirit of deepest prayer and greatest humility, for we are trusting in the power of God, not our cleverness.”

(pp. 240-24)

 Radical Prayer

• refuses to let us stay on the fringes of life’s great issues.
• dares to believe that things can be different
• total transformation of persons, institutions and societies
• prophetic

(p. 243)

“The prophetic message envisions a radical way of living and a radical way of praying.” (p. 247)

The Sofa Girls alluded to it and I agree, this form of prayer was a great way to end the book; it’s a call to “Spiritual Defiance”.  Foster likened says it “undermines the status quo”.  He called it a “spiritual underground resistance movement”.  Radical Prayer is strong and sure–

• we become the voice of the voiceless
• we demand to be heard
• we insist changes be made (p. 247)
• we prayer not just for individuals but also for nations, for renewal of the church and transformation of the world (p. 250)

We’re also called to “social holiness”.  It’s not just our praying, it’s our living.  Foster reminds us Jesus was/is a “social revolutionary” and instructed us to be like him in this.  We are to value all people and to go beyond our comfort zones and geographical borders (pp. 248-49).

We’re also called to Christian community.  “We do not live in isolation, and we do not pray in isolation.”  Christian community can be expressed in (p. 251):

• institutional
• communal
• personal spiritual mentoring
• small group spiritual formation

I particularly liked Foster’s emphasis on small group formation, where the Believer can find nurture and accountability.  He shares the questions asked in his group and asks how we might respond (p. 253):

1. What experience of prayer and meditation have you had this week?
2. What temptations did you face this week?
3. What movements of the Holy Spirit did you experiences this week?
4. What opportunities to serve others have you had this week?
5. In what ways have you encountered Christ in your study of the Bible this week?

The book’s ending is perfect punctuation to a study of prayer, the reminder to love our God and neighbor.  He cautions “To attempt to love our neighbor without an ongoing love relationship with God will destroy our community.” (p. 255)

Discuss

Suffering…Authoritative…Radical prayers–which chapter held the challenge and inspiration you needed to hear today?  What insights did you glean from watching the video that reinforced that message?  Did you sense any new teaching that made you rethink old ideas?  Are you finding people being brought to mind to pray for who are under bondage in some area?

Favorite verse

“Joy, not misery, is the compelling energy behind redemptive suffering.”

(From the Prayer of Suffering, p. 219)

“In my concern over falling off the deep end, I realized that I just might fall off the shallow end.”

(From Authoritative Prayer, p. 235)

“…for the children of the kingdom it is not important who a person is, only that a person is.”

(From Radical Prayer, p. 248)

__________

Lovies…..we made it!  If you’ve stuck with this study, well done.   It’s been meaty and challenging and, at times, laborious. But it’s been better because of you, and we’re grateful you’ve walked alongside us.   Julie was such a welcome addition to finish out this section (so BIG thanks to her!).

Please come back Friday as we take a look back over the past several weeks.  We’ll try to sift through 21 chapters on prayer and draw some conclusions; both an ending and launching point.

❤,  Robin

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