Prayer.6.keller.4.conversing.02.15.15

1 | P a g e | © J o h n R . W i b l e , 2 0 1 5 . H o w e v e r , n o c l a i m i s m a d e t o
o r i g i n a l i t y o f c o n t e n t e x c e p t w h e r e n o t e d [ b r a c k e t s ] o r
o t h e r w i s e o b v i o u s f r o m t h e c o n t e x t .
Lesson 6. Conversing with God (Keller, Lesson 4)
February 15, 2015, John R. Wible, Editor
I. Fellowship Time – recording of prayer requests.
II. Teaching Time – From Keller, Prayer. Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God.1
Epilogue to Last Week.
After posting the above revised edition of Lesson 5, and after feeling rather proud of my work
on it, I received an email from someone who said that they had read the revised edition and
agreed with me on the “fear debate.”
My immediate reaction was, “Oh no, this has become a debate and I did not intend for anything
to become a debate. I responded to them in that manner and with those words.
As I write this post script, I am waiting at home for some men to come pick up a piece of
equipment. For that reason, I was not able to go to the men's prayer at the house of prayer this
morning. While preparing for my quiet time, the time was “interrupted” by a text from one of
the men with whom I pray on Saturday AM asking if there was anything that I needed for them
to pray about. I replied to him about the fear debate.
He reminded me of Ephesians 6:18 concerning fear. I read that Scripture and noted that verses
19 and 20 also addressed the subject. I texted him back thanking him for sending me the
scripture and saying that it was right on point.
Ephesians 6:18-19 says:
18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on
the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, 19 and pray on my behalf,
that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with
boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in
proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
He texted me back and asked what was the point of “debate?” I decided to call him and explain
what the situation was. I asked for prayer that I would not be guided by my own fear of being ill
thought of by class members. He also said to read 2 Timothy 2:7 that says, "7 For God has not
given us a spirit of timidity [fear], but of power and love and discipline."
1 Here throughout, most material is quoted from or suggested by Keller.For the sakeof brevity, I have not set off
many thoughts in quote marks.That is notto claimoriginal ownership in the thought. There are original insertions,
however and they will probably beobvious.

So, I have been in prayer about this “debate.” Perhaps God was giving me a real life lesson in
the power of prayer and in the confronting of my own fears. Was I more interested in telling
the truth as God has revealed in His Word, or at least my interpretation of it or was I interested
in, no fearful of, not being well thought of by a friend?
In this, God brought me to what Henry Blackaby calls a “crisis of belief that requires faith and
action.” Would I act out of my fear or would I act out of love and truth? Without a doubt, the
first action should and always will be to pray – to pray using words; to express what is going on
and to ask for God’s clear guidance. He has answered. In this, God has given me a new
understanding not only of prayer but of fear as well.
As to fear, may I suggest that the bottom line is this? We all are beset my fears. Each of us fears
a multiplicity of things. Perhaps if we were to express these fears to others. They might think
them petty and trivial – maybe not so much.
To be attacked by fear and doubt is a natural emotion. Jesus was certainly attacked by the spirit
of fear and doubt in the Garden of Gethsemane. The question is how did He and how do we
react? Should we react out of fear and doubt, we give the control to the fear. If we pray and ask
God for the courage to act out of the courage that God gives us, then we are given the victory
over fear.
So, is feeling fear and doubt a sin? No. We feel what we feel. Is reacting out of fear and doubt
without asking God for the courage to deal with it a sin? Yes, it is. But here's the thing. If we but
ask God, He will answer. 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
In this exercise, God not only taught me a lesson about fear, but also about prayer. That lesson
will carry over into this week’s study.
Conversing with God.
Introduction. Keller tells us that prayer is an instinct and a spiritual gift. We’ve learned from
past lessons that most people pray instinctively when threatened. While that’s not necessarily
bad, if it is the only level of prayer we reach, we are missing a great deal. It’s the difference in a
monologue and a dialogue, shouting at someone we don’t know and having a conversation
with someone we do know and would like to get to know better.
Keller says that the former prayer is like putting a note in a bottle “To whoever finds this.”
There’s no hint of a relationship involved. The latter prayer is a meeting with God, “Heaven in
the ordinary.”

Instinctive prayer has the emphasis on what God can do for us – He’s a genie we’d like to let out
of that bottle to grant us three wishes. Spiritual prayer places the emphasis on God – the prayer
is not about getting stuff, it’s about getting to know the Divine Person who is behind the stuff.
In instinctive prayer, we think that we are initiating the talking.2 In spiritual prayer we, more
and more realize that even though we start a prayer by addressing God in some fashion, we are
not opening the channel to Him, rather He has already opened to channel to us by inviting us to
meet with Him. [We are Adam and Eve in the Garden coming in the cool of the evening to meet
with God at His divine invitation.3]
Meeting a Personal God.
If we are going to learn how to properly respond to God, we must first learn who God is.
Contrary to the teaching of Eastern mystical religions, we believe God to be very personal. If He
were not, there could not be any such thing as love. Even if God were personal but only one
person as the Muslims teach, there still could not be any such thing as love until God created
somebody to love, IE, man. If that were so, then God’s chief trait would be power and not love.
1 John 4:8 clearly flies in the face of the Eastern impersonal idea of God as well as the Muslim
idea of the God who is only power. The passage tells us, “The one who does not love does not
know God, for God is love.” [This passage is clear on the point, but it is not by itself. It is
precede by verse 7 which teaches, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and
everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.]”
[As far back as Deuteronomy we see the same theme. Deuteronomy 23:5 says, “Nevertheless,
the Lord your God was not willing to listen to Balaam, but the Lord your God turned the curse
into a blessing for you because the Lord your God loves you.]”
[The entire Book of Hosea is a lived-out metaphor for God’s love for Israel and their rejection of
Him. Paull tells us in 1 Corinthians 8:3, “but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.”]The
Doctrine of the Trinity teaches us that God always has existed in three distinct persons who
supremely love each other. In fact, that is the pattern for God’s love of us and our love of God.
John 14-17 is an extended passage wherein Jesus teaches about how the three Persons of God
loved each other before time. An example is John 17:5 where Jesus says, “The Glory I had with
{the Father} before the world began.”
In John 17:8, Jesus refers to the “words” he has received from the Father.4 Clearly the Persons
of God expressed words to each other and since we know They loved Each Other, They would
2 Later we will seethat prayer of any sortis a response on our part.
3 Genesis 3:8. “
44 We will seea great deal more, infra concerningwords.

have expressed words of love. [A good example of this “prehistoric” love speech is found in
WilliamPaul Young’s controversial 2007 book, The Shack.5 The point is that God is a personal
God of love who wants loves us and wants us to love Him. People who love each other talk with
each other sometimes in many different ways.]
Some philosophers have perceived God as “pure spirit.” It is true that the John 4:24 tells us,
“God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” That being the
case, the philosophers conclude that it would be improper to think of a “pure spirit” as
“speaking.” They miss the point. Matthew 24:35 states, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but
my words will never pass away.” That’s true because the Bible says so, but it’s also true based
on the pure logic that the philosophers miss.
J.L. Austin gave us the “speech-act theory.”6 Austin was not a theologian, he was a linguist.
Never the less, according to the “speech-act theory,” words are, in and of themselves, acts or
actions. [To say it alone is for it to exist. The Hebrews had a much better understanding of this
than we do. They perceived words as living beings having a life of their own. Whether or not
this is true of everybody’s speech is far past what we need to consider here. But it is certainly
true of God’s words.]
Nowhere is this more clearly seen than in the Genesis account of creation where God spoke
everything into existence. See Genesis 1:3 – light; 1:6-7 – the waters and the heavens; 1:9 – dry
land; 1:11 – growing things; & etc. on down to man in Genesis 2:7 where God “breathes” life
into man. The theory goes then that if God exists (and He does,) and has the power to act (and
He does,) then there is no reason that He could not speak because words are, as we have seen,
actions or acts in and of themselves. That means that words not say things and “mean things,”7
they bring about things.
Further, as we have observed, God is a “community of persons.” Communities “communicate”
among themselves” because use of language is “intrinsic to personal relationship.” Thus, God
communicates through words. [That’s important to hold onto as we shall see.] If God
communicates through words and if we want to communicate with Him, we need to use words.
Question: How many of you, when you are alone with God pray with audible words? How
many form unspoken words in your mind?
5 I’m not sureI can wholeheartedly endorse the book. Though ithas its good points,it’s pretty “far out.”
66 John Langshaw "J. L." Austin (26 March 1911 – 8 February 1960) was a British philosopher of language.He is
remembered primarily asthe developer of the theory of speech acts. See Warnock,G. J. "John Langshaw Austin, a
biographical sketch".Symposium on J. L. Austin, ed. K.T. Fann. New York: Humanities Press,1969.p. 3.
7 As observed by the great philosopher,Rush Limbaugh, “words mean things.”

[Conscious Prayer and Unconscious Prayer.]
[This is an important question because we need to differentiate two distinct types of prayer at
this point, conscious prayer and unconscious prayer.]
To the pure mystic, words get in the way of prayer. That is because the mystic perceives God as
within him. To achieve the ability to reach this state of unconscious prayer, many Eastern
religions have developed many physical, mental and linguistic techniques to block conscious
thought. [Since we’re not going to do that, we will go no further with that idea.]
Christian prayer sees God as transcendent, which is, figuratively speaking, above or higher then
man. So we look not within but above8 or at least outside ourselves. We don’t go down inside
ourselves to find God, we look out. [This is not to say that Christ and the Spirit of Christ do not
“dwell” in us for surely they do. See Galatians 2:20.]
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and
the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and
gave Himself up for me.
See also Romans 8:9-11.
However,youare not inthe fleshbutinthe Spirit,if indeedthe Spiritof Goddwellsinyou.Butif
anyone doesnothave the Spiritof Christ,he doesnot belongtoHim. 10
If Christisin you,though
the bodyis deadbecause of sin,yetthe spiritisalive because of righteousness. 11
Butif the Spirit
of HimwhoraisedJesusfromthe deaddwellsinyou,He whoraisedChristJesusfromthe dead
will alsogive lifetoyourmortal bodiesthroughHisSpiritwhodwellsinyou.
[Perhaps it might be better or more clearly stated that the fullness of Christ is both within us
and is transcendent over above) us. This is another mystery of God – how both of these can be
true.]
[The bottom line is that if we are to have depth to our prayer, we should speak to and with God
in the same way He speaks to us, using “words.” This is not to say that there is a limitation on
times of pure quietness of spirit just listening for what God will say. Indeed, that’s the better
part of conversation – the listening. There are many great talkers, but not that many great
listeners. Balance is the key – balance between speaking and listening, contemplating and
giving back.]
Question: What does it mean that the Spirit of Christ “dwells” in us?
8 Perhaps the idea that Heaven, the dwellingplaceof God, is “up in the sky” derives from this thought.

Keller describes prayer in terms of fellowship among friends. God initiates through His call to us
and through His words to us – the Bible. We respond as we are bidden. The Biblical pattern of
prayer does definitely involve meditating on God’s word. 2 Timothy 2:15 admonishes us to
15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to
be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.
Meeting God Through His Word.
As we know, God’s word is living and breathing.
For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and
piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to
judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12.
Timothy Ward argues in his book, Words of Life, that God’s words are “identical” to His
actions.9 God doesn’t say it then do it. He says it and it is so. Not so with Humans. While some
words can have force and effect, even the strongest cause-effect words require that a separate
action follow. We say, “let there be light” – and we have to turn on the switch to make it so.
But, when God named people, the act of naming them constituted who they would be. The God
of the Bible is a God who “by His very nature, acts through speaking.
Question: What are the implications of this fact on our manner of prayer?
Keller says that more mystically-minded people tend to think of words as an obstruction to the
goal of communion with God. This leads one to forms of “Centering Prayer” of “The Jesus
Prayer.” In the former, one concentrates on a particular word or phrase and repeats it over and
over internally. This could be “God is love, God is love & Etc. In the latter, one repeats over and
again the phrase, “Blessed Jesus, Son of God have mercy on me a sinner.” While these may be
useful to some extent, when one uses the words to block conscious thought, we are, in
essence, trying to reach the God who is within rather than the God who is transcendent.
No, while there are times to search internally for identification of those flaws that need
addressing and while quiet meditation on the scripture or on some thought about scripture that
God has given us are certainly appropriate, the principal way we pray is through words. God
initiates, we respond.
Question: How has God initiated the conversation?
9 See the Editor’s comments on the Genesis Creation, supra.

Prayer through Immersion in God’s Word.
Keller cites some examples of authors on prayer who believe that it is not so much important to
whom one is praying as it is that one is praying. Keller and I beg to disagree. It logically goes
without saying that it is of utmost importance that one know to whom one is praying.
[I am reminded of the story I have recently told of a scene in the movie, The Night They Raided
Minsky’s in which the overwrought Amish father of one of Minsky’s dancers makes appeal to
old Mr. Minsky, a Jew, to stop the show. Minsky explained to him that his son had a lease on
the theatre thus, Minsky had no control over it. All they could do was pray – so they did. In a
minute, the Amish father stops and asks Mr. Minsky, “I wonder, are we praying to the same
God?” Minsky replies, “Only a God who could tolerate me could tolerate you.” That’s a great
line and it makes the point here. When we don’t know the God to whom we are praying, we
dishonor Him.]
God has provided the means for us to get to know Him – He even wrote a book about it. It’s
called The Bible. Keller advises us that if we immerse ourselves in the Word, we immerse
ourselves in the nature of God and in God Himself.
Harkening back to Eugene Peterson,10 Keller points out that as infants, we don’t learn speech on
our own. We merely repeat what we hear. The American infant does not decide he will learn
English, he repeats what his mother and father say to him – and so it is in all cultures. It can
only be this way if the infant is to communicate with those in his environment
As we approach God as prayerful neophytes, the only way to truly “communicate” with Him is
through the means He has already laid out – His Word, the Bible. Peterson says that all speech
is “answering speech.” God has spoken. We can read it, we can hear on DVD or MP3. We can
hear our mothers say it over us. Speech – the way God communicates to us should be the
primary way we communicate back to God.
Question: How does one do this?
[11Ideally, in “quiet time”, one has a plan to read a passage. Do so, then listen for what God has
said and is saying to you in that passage. Those words will inform our speech back to Him. In
non-quiet times, times we have an instant need, if possible think on the passage that God will
almost invariably bring to your mind and let that passage informwhat you are going to say to
God in prayer. Then there are times of “Help.” When we are in an exigent situation. The car is
about to run in the ditch, we find ourselves in an emergency situation or one that requires an
10 Author of The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language, 2002.
11 The Editor is summarizing.

instant action. At those times, where knowledge of God’s Word is most useful. What we have
read maybe years ago, will inform our prayer for “help.” Keller cites the example of the sponge.
To do its work, a sponge does not have to be soaked in the water after every stroke. Periodic
soaking is enough. So it is with Bible reading. Periodic reading is enough. Of course, the
question always is, how much time is “enough?”
These times should always be followed up with prayers of “Thanks” and “Wow!” Thanks that
God has acted on our behalf and “wow!” at what He has done in such a short time.12]
To restate something said before, if our prayer is to the God who is the “Genie in the Bottle,”
we have missed the whole point of prayer. Prayer is not asking for things, it is asking for time
with our Master and Friend. All friends know each other because they have spent time with
each other. Why is it any different with God? It isn’t.
Verbal Prayer as Response to God. God’s Person
While there are times for mysticism, Paul tells us. “I will pray with my spirit, [mysticism] but I
will also pray with my understanding [thoughts and words.]” 1 Corinthians 14:15. Here we are
drawn back to last week’s lesson that we are given the privilege of prayer only “in Jesus’ name.”
We pray to the Father through the name of Jesus. Jesus is the Word of God.13
Church fathers have been on all sides of this mysticism vs. words discussion. Martin Luther said
that we should never go beyond the Word of God in the Bible. He said, “We must first hear the
Word, and then afterwards the Holy Ghost works in our hearts; He works in the hearts of whom
He will, and how He will, but never without the Word.” 14 For a helpful; understanding of the
mystical side of prayer, see Meditation and Communion with God by John Jefferson Davis.
Paul tells us to “set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Colossians 3:1-2. Thus,
our main prayer should be directed “upward.” The oft sought after balance is located,
according to Keller by J.I. Packer who states that the kind of prayer that seeks to contemplate
the impersonal presence in a non-cognitive manner is a holdover from Neoplatonism and
Gnosticism. He calls this “Eastern mysticismin western dress.”15 Packer reminds that “There is
indeed a place for silence before God . . . after we have spoken to, while joy at God’s love
invades the soul. He concludes that “wordless prayer is not the pinnacle . . . but the periodic
punctuation of verbal prayer.”
12 The prayers of “Help, Thanks and Wow!” are suggested in Anne Lamott’s book, Help, Thanks and Wow!: The
Three Essential Prayers cited with some criticismby Keller.
13 John 1:1-2.
14 Quoted in Blosche, Prayer a Study: 101.
15 Zaleski and Zaleski, Prayer: A History.

Varied Prayer as Response to God’s Glory.
The Psalmist clearly contemplated all types of prayer and some of them suit the personality of
one person more than another. None is “best,” each has its place. None of us could ever plumb
the depths of all the kinds or varied prayer found in and approved by the Psalms. God will lead
us to the mode of prayer. We should be sensitive to that leading and not be bound to one
formula or mode of prayer.
Untethered Prayer.
Prayer must be “tethered” to the person of God. It is foolish and dangerous to pray to
“whoever is listening.” [We see this in so many popular songs, even by the venerable Walt
Disney. Examples would be the wistful, “When you wish upon a Star,” sung by Jiminy Cricket
(JC?)16 in Pinocchio. Even the beloved, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” sung by Judy Garland in
The Wizard of Oz is really a prayer to nature. And, let us not forget the Righteous Brothers’ I
song, “I Believe,” the instant line being, “I believe that [S?]omeone in the Great Somewhere
hears every word.]17 We should also not forget that overtly Christian songs can have misguided
lyrics. One such is Buryl Red and Ragan Courtney’s “In Remembrance of Me,” sung frequently at
Communion times. The lyric goes:
In remembrance of me search for truth/In remembrance of me always love/
In remembrance of me don't look above/But in your heart, in your heart
Look in your heart for God
While I doubt the song writers intended such an implication, the lyric intimates that God is not
transcendent and above but is within. This is, as J.I. Packer stated, “Eastern mysticism in
Western clothes.”18
There is a real danger in this untethered prayer that is prayer that responds to a voice that we
don’t know to be that of God.
Keller tells the story of the famous George Whitefield19, renowned preacher and theologian of
the Great Awakening who had a thought about his newborn son. The thought was that the boy
would grow up to be a great preacher.
16 I am personally partial to the Linda Ronstadt version.
17 I believe that this is true, but does this lyric refer to the Deity or to some covert operation of the National
Security Agency?
18 Supra.
19 George Whitefield (1714 – 1770), also known as George Whitfield,was an English Anglican cleric who helped
spread the Great Awakening in Britain and,especially,in theAmerican colonies.Whitfield attended Oxford

Whitefield baptized the boy and proclaimed that prophesy over him. Four months later, the boy
died in infancy. While the whole family was shaken to the core, Whitefield was so grieved not
only by the death but also by his own listening to the voice within rather than searching for the
voice from God, that he wrote a heart-wrenching prayer to be prayed at his son’s funeral in
which he prayed that God would “render this mistaken parent more cautious, more sober-
minded, more experienced in Satan’s devices, and consequently more useful in his future labors
to the church of God.”20
Keller extracts the point of the story. It is not that God does not guide our thoughts or prompt
us to actions, but that we cannot be sure it is God unless we read it in scripture.
21[I’m assuming that Keller does not mean his commentary literally but that when tested
against scripture, the impulse to act will not contravene the scripture. Obviously, many if not
most of our daily decisions are not specifically mentioned in the scripture. In other words, some
thoughts are from God and some are from the “wild hare.” Only scripture will tell us the
difference.]
Finding the Heart to Pray.
King David wanted to build God a grand house. But God had a better idea. God sent a message
through the “House Prophet” Nathan to the King stating that David was not to build the temple.
This was a direct word from God through His prophet. However, God promised David that He
would make David into a house that would last forever. See 3 Samuel 7:11-13. This idea of
God’s was so infinitely better than David’s was it not? What a shame it would have been had
David not known God well enough to listen to Him. 2 Samuel 7:27 recounts how David was
disappointed but that through listening to God was enabled by God to “find the Heart to pray.”
The lesson in this story is that God speaks to us through His Word, we respond in prayer and
then find Holy Communion with God. [So, let us pray with our whole being: body, mind, spirit,
understanding, and reasoning. But, after all is said and done. Let us pray.]
IV. Prayer Time – see prayer list.
VI. Next Week’s Assignment:
Reread Murray Chapters Ch. 3, 17, 18 (pages 16, 67, and 72.)
University where he met the Wesley brothers becoming one of the founders of Methodism specifically and of the
evangelical movement generally.
20 Pollock, John, George Whitefield and the Great Awakening. (1972.)
21 Editor’s note.

Prayer.6.keller.4.conversing.02.15.15

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