With Spirit and Understanding (1369 Meaningful Prayers - Compiled and Classified)

Prayer is the lifeline of Christian life. It is the expression of our intimacy with God. It reveals a devotee's spiritual maturity, self-understanding, understanding of God, the Church and the World. It is not limited to asking for our bodily and worldly needs. Every believer in any religion can pray for these. Biblical verses like 'Ask, it shall be given' should not be taken out of their context. This famous phrase was said in the context of seeking God's reign and justice. Jesus told his desperate disciples that whatever they asked in his name and according to the will of his Father they would receive them. Again, the primary purpose is seeking the will of the heavenly Father and engaging in mission in a hostile world. As Sadhu Sunder Singh and others have said from their experience, prayer does not change the will of God but the will of the one who prays. There is a place for sharing our problems and needs with God. As we are finite and weak, we seek the supremely wise God's guidance in our trouble and confusion. But if we think that we can move, arm- twist or manipulate God by loud and persistent shouting, the unique biblical vision of God is blurred. The Bible projects a God of amazing grace and unfailing love, who is zealous to humanize the world. Then, when we pray for others we do not mediate, nor do we leave them to God as if he is the problem to be solved. Rather we pray in solidarity with God and the suffering people, expressing our wish and committing to do our part for finding the solution. Generations of Christians all over the world have prayed with meaningful words and distilled wisdom in their striving towards a God-centred, Christ-minded and Spirit-led life. Here is a record number of such prayers titled, compiled, classified and indexed in one volume.

The Revd Dr Israel Selvanayagam, originally a presbyter of the Church of South India, pastored churches, preached in conventions, taught in Seminaries/Colleges, resourced seminars/consultations and contributed to writing projects and the Interconfessional Tamil Bible. Currently he is a minister in the Methodist Church in Britain. He has published extensively both in Tamil and English on Religions, Hinduism, Interreligious Dialogue, Mission, Biblical Insights, Devotions and Organic Union of the Church.

Prayer is the lifeline of Christian life. It is the expression of our intimacy with God. It reveals a devotee's spiritual maturity, self-understanding, understanding of God, the Church and the World. It is not limited to asking for our needs - provision, protection, promotion, prosperity, progeny and peace of mind. Every believer in any religion can pray for these. They do not receive all they ask, as is true in our case too. But, interestingly those who do not believe in God and do not ask for their needs do receive those needs and some are 'richly blessed." At the same time, we all receive many things even when we do not ask for them. For example, how many of us pray for oxygen? Therefore, the meaning of prayer in our faith experience may have a special significance, which we need to explore. Biblical verses like 'Ask, it shall be given' should not be taken out of their context. This famous phrase was said in the context of seeking God's reign and justice. Jesus told his desperate disciples that whatever they asked he would give them. Again, the context is seeking the will of the heavenly Father and engaging in mission in a hostile world. There is a place for sharing our problems and needs with God. As we are finite and weak, we seek the supremely wise God's guidance in our trouble and confusion. But, we must acknowledge that it is a basic human condition and that people of other religions also share this condition, although we learn from Jesus Christ a unique way of handling this condition for the glory of God.

For praying Christians, to pray is basically to spend special time with God. During this time, there are moments of speaking, moments of listening, and moments of silence. After this special time, we feel not only refreshed but also become confident to do something for God. God has created us to be his co- creators. has with us a loving covenant which requires us to participate in God's mission of humanizing the world. Justice, uprightness, love, peace, equality and unity are the fundamental virtues of true humanity. Therefore, it is natural that our prayers mainly centre around such virtues. We read them in the prayers of the prophets, Jesus, the apostles and the saints over the centuries. They have experienced not simply a sweet hour of prayer' but bitter hours also as they argued, questioned, lamented and remained conspicuously silent.

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