Theology Blog

Eugene Peterson wrote: “Any place is the right place to begin to pray. But we must not be afraid of ending up some place quite different from where we start.”

This is a powerful summary of prayer, but also an amazing challenge to consider when we think about prayer and our prayer life. Whether out of habit, duty, need, or some other motivation, prayer can become something that is more about the activity than the change that can come. To pray is to change, to be made new. If prayer is a conversation at or with God, then certainly we must not come at it only out of need, or our own desire or end. Just like any relationship, it must be about the relationship itself, and not what we are trying to get out of it.

Perhaps this is one of the many reasons that I love to pray the Psalms. Certainly the Psalms are scripture and therefore better than my own words, but they also give me words when I do not have them, or provide words when my own are inadequate. What Peterson has to say here is the image of the Psalmist. The Pslams often start in one place and end up in a uniquely different place.

Why do we pray? What is the deeper meaning? I have heard it said that you should be careful what you pray for, and while that is a true statement, it is riddled in a selfish or fearful approach to prayer. We need to begin to think and feel differently about prayer in our own lives.