The Phenomenology of Prayer (1)

Pure Elements
October 13rd, 2017
By SArah Clark


Reading the Phenomenology of Prayer was something that has benefited my own prayer life. Sometimes it is easy as a Christian to fall into an ordinary relationship with the Wholly other. However, it is not ordinary, it's extraordinary.  The five elements of prayer are: praise, thanksgiving, confession, petition and intercession.  Starting with prayer with praise, reminds us who we are praying to.  Before taking our midterm, I was reading Isaiah 6:1-8.  The God I serve is “high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple” (NIV, Isaiah 6:1).  Whenever a king would conquer a new nation, they would add length to the train of their robe.  It’s important to remember that He holds dominion over all nations and His name will be forever praised.  The second element is thanksgiving.  We should thank him for his extraordinary “love for those who fear him.” It is not comparable to a friend on earth.  His love is “as high as the heavens are from the earth,” it can’t even be quantized (Psalms 103:11, NIV).  The third element is confession, which is not meant to be taken as wallowing in misery.  When Isaiah was in the presence of the “Holy, Holy, Holy” he said “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:5).  Then the seraphim showed him the atonement that bridged the huge gap of holy and sinful, which was Jesus.  He said “your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for” (Isaiah 6:6).  Isaiah did not question this, he then stood in the presence of God and said “Here am I.  Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8).  This is similar to the examples of Mary (21), Samuel (17) and Job’s (24) response to the Lord’s call given in the Phenomenology of Prayer.  Once we become ebbed, or bond servants, to the Lord, we are given the right to petition for our desires and intercede for others (17).

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