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The New Spirituality: Key Prayer Method Terms


MadHermit

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(1) Like other terms in Yown's New Spirituality List, the description of "Palms Up, Palms Down" is distorted.  In fact, it is an old Quaker prayer practice designated to help prayer warriors with 2 problems that hamper petitionary prayer:

Jesus insists that we pray with faith, but most of us fear that we lack the requisite faith to secure an answer to certain difficult situations.  So we unconsciously just try to believe.  But the very concept of "trying" presupposes doubt and probable failure and the Palms Up, Palms Down technique is an often effective way to bypass this problem.

When we petition God, we often find ourselves impaled on the horns of a dilemma.  On the one hand, we tend to launch into our petitions with no sense of whether what we are asking for is God's will.  On the other hand, when we hedge our bets by inserting "Lord, if it be your will," we unwittingly unleash the doubt about the legitimacy and effectiveness of our petitions that was lurking just under the surface of our minds.  

The Palms Up, Palms Down method can rescue us from these 2 problems.  (a) In the Palms Down phase of meditation, we hold are palms up at our sides and meditate on the thought that we are turning the needs in question over to God so that He can take charge of this situation in the life of the troubled soul.  We are not telling God what to do, but rather are trusting that the need in question is now the object of God's loving and active attention.  We then very slowly rotate our hands in a large semi-circle until they arrive palms down on our knees.  This method helps us to replace anxiety-provoking overthinking with simple childlike trust that Father knows best.  We take deep satisfaction in the realization that we have placed the needy soul in the palm of God's hands.  We allow a few minutes to complete this phase.

(b) In the Palms Up phase, we place our hands palms up on our knees and meditate on the thought that we are now receiving by faith all the grace, power, and guidance that we will need to be part of the solution to the other person's needs, recognizing that effective prayer often requires perseverance and God often expect us to be part of the answer to the needs in question.

For years, I have attended a small weekly prayer group, at which we often practice the Palms Down, Palms Up method.  It creates a powerful sense of the Spirit's active presence and energizes our petitions when we shift to specific requests of the Lord.  The method helps us realize that God will respond to the true need behind our requests, if not to the literal requests.  It has helped us receive the faith needed to facilitate several miracles and other marvelous answers to prayer.

 

 

 

 

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(2) THE SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR

Yown's list includes this role for which you can get a Masters degree at some Catholic seminaries.  My cousin Lloyd was a conventional evangelical and looked at Catholics with the typical evangelical jaundiced eye.  Then, when his marriage seemed on the rocks and he had tried counseling and other remedies, he finally connected with a Catholic spiritual director.  He glowingly told me that those encounters blessed him and saved his marriage!  One of the most helpful and beloved evangelical authors is Philip Yancey.  Philip met celebrated Catholic spiritual director, Brennan Manning and confessed and confided in him that, despite all the accolades for his books, he himself had never had a convincing experience of God's presence.  Brennan replied, :"Go on one of my silent prayer retreats and I guarantee you that you will experience God's presence convincingly.  Yancey took up the challenge and reported that, under Brennan's skillful leadership, he marvelously did experience God's presence on that retreat. 

Spiritual directors are trained in skilled listening, practical psychology, Scripture, and the best of ancient contemplative traditions ranging from the Desert Fathers to the spiritual insights of monastic orders.  They recognize that most professing Christians reduce prayer to petitions, praise, and thanksgiving, but have no clue as to how to listen for the guiding voice of God.  God intends prayer to be a 2-way conversation.  Prayerful listening requires practice and great self-discipline and a good Catholic prayer retreat with a Spiritual Director is designed to develop these holy habits.  

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