Why We Utilize Written Prayers

Creating a pattern for our formation.

Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash

I cannot tell you how many sermons I’ve sat through on prayer. Dozens, if not hundreds. As a church kid, rightfully so, prayer was and remains an important topic for the church to discuss. However, I can summarize almost every sermon I’ve ever heard on prayer with the words “pray more” or pray harder.” These instructions are relatively unhelpful for the person who is struggling to develop a prayer life. These instructions, meant for encouragement, become extremely discouraging. It is my conviction that an entirely new understanding on prayer is needed.

First and foremost, prayer is not the means by which I get God to do what I want. Without a doubt, prayer is an opportunity to petition God to intercede in our world. Prayer is our chance to appeal to the God of the Universe about the things happening in our life. However, I would suggest, this is not the primary purpose of prayer. Rather, the primary purpose of prayer is to be properly formed. That is to say, prayer is the space in which the Spirit shapes us into the witness of Christ we are called to be.

Through our faithfulness to prayer, the Spirit does the hard work of transforming our character to resemble that of Christ. This formation is not instantaneous, rather it is happening slowly over years, not minutes. Therefore, prayer is not the place where our will is made known to God, but rather a place where our will is aligned with His.

With the emergence of Pentecostal Christianity and its emphasis on experience, spontaneous prayers became known as the more genuine prayer practice. However, as a pentecostal, I recognize that my spontaneous prayers can be just as hollow as written prayers which have been historically the vehicle of prayer in the Church. Prayer, regardless of its form, may at times be lack-luster in its experience. However, when prayer becomes about formation rather than how I feel, the content of the prayer becomes much more important than the mode.

The early Church knew of the formational reality of prayer. One of the most early descriptions of the early Church comes from Luke in Acts 2; “And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42 ESV, not all translations pick up on the nuance of “the” prior to “prayer” in the Greek manuscript but the English Standard Version does). Note that they were dedicated to the prayers suggesting a collection or set of common prayers. In fact it is likely Jesus himself prayed the same prayer every day called the Shema (from Deut. 6:4-9).

If formation is the goal, written prayers become a helpful tool in being properly formed, specifically for the following reasons:

Written Prayers are rooted in a robust biblical and theological tradition.

Written prayer are rooted in the incarnation of Christ and the orthodoxy of the Church. They become incredible communicators of the great truths of our tradition. You say you want to learn more about the Christian faith?—pray it’s theology.

A simple prayer called “Jesus prayer” is simply;

Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner.

This simple prayer acknowledges Christ as Lord, petitions the God of Mercy, and affirms the reality that I am a sinner. The biblical overtones are too many to mention, but it is almost word for word what the tax collector prays in Luke 18:13; “But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” Written prayers are implicitly or explicitly biblical.

Written prayers also connect us to the great tradition of the Church. There is a reason these prayers have been passed down for centuries: they work. Think through the hundreds of thousands, of millions of individuals who have prayed these prayers before you and maybe even for you.

Written prayers provide a structure by which we may be properly formed.

Written prayers provide a structure by which your soul can grow. Praying the prayers of the church gives us a pattern and routine to shape our thoughts, emotions, and practices. While theoretically you could do this on your own, humans are rarely that intentional.

Written prayers free us from the bondage of our own shortcomings. Greedy people pray greedy prayers. Anxious people pray anxious prayers. Sad people pray sad prayers. Optimistic people pray optimistic prayers. We need a structure to move us away from our own proclivities and into the way of Jesus.

I’m not a gardener however, I do know that vertically growing plants often need an object to climb in order to grow and thrive. Skilled gardeners use trellis’ to give structure to these plants. Similarly, our souls need structure to climb. We need the rhythms and structure written prayers provide to climb higher than the ground of our own propensities.

Written prayers remind us that transformation is the work of the Spirit.

With written prayers the quality of my prayer is not based on my attention, fervor, or zeal. It is based on the Spirit’s faithfulness to work. The “change agent” is identified as external to myself. The Spirit is the surgeon that is daily working on my soul. My simple responsibility is to show up to the “hospital” of prayer. We are not solely responsible for changing ourselves. In partnership with the Holy Spirit we are slowly becoming the person Christ is calling us to be. Written prayers provide that space for us to focus on the way the Spirit is leading.

Written prayers provide a routine that takes the guesswork out of prayer. I never wonder what I pray about today? While this seems like a minor element it hinders many of us from praying at all. Prayer no longer becomes about the eloquence of my words or the zeal of my faith, but becomes simple about making space for the Spirit to work.

As followers of Christ, we’ve been given specific direction for our change by the Incarnate One, Jesus. His life and ministry provides a clear pattern for the Kingdom of God and what its citizens look like. Thus, how we are being formed is essential to our discipleship and how we pray, says a lot about what we are being formed into. Utilizing written prayers is not the only way to be properly formed nor does it exclude spontaneous prayer. In fact, I imagine many of the Psalms were first emotionally-driven prayers long before they were written down. The follower of Christ should pray honestly about what they are feeling and going through. I believe written prayers actually lay an incredible foundation for those spontaneous and emotional prayers to overflow from our heart.

At Midtown Church, we see the value in following a pattern of worship that has been handed down to us through the centuries. We desire to be connected to the robust theology and tradition of the Church. We know that our souls need a structure to follow in order to be properly formed. Finally, we know that our formation is not a task we are solely responsible for, that the Spirit is guiding the process I just need to show up.

To discover Midtown Church’s liturgy for this week check out our Microchurch Liturgy.