The Problem with Contemplative Prayer

Ep. 170: One of the greatest deficiencies in American Christianity is genuine prayerfulness, a failure to acknowledge a very real need to commune and communicate with God. It is clear in Scripture that the discipline of prayer is critical to the health of the believer but also the mission of God and how He responds to us as we speak with Him. In an effort to cultivate a culture of prayer in the Church, many theologians have written extensively on the subject of calling on the Lord in prayer. They have advocated and promoted churches and people turning to the Lord in the work of prayer. With that said, there are many theologians who have advocated for what is called "contemplative prayer," a form of prayer that focuses on the emptying of the conscious mind and on embracing the mystery of God.
We have invited President of Living Faith Bible Institute, Sam Miles to discuss this approach to prayer and to respond to concepts authored by Richard Rohr, AJ Sherrill, Tyler Staton, Carl Jung and Sue Monk Kidd. Today we will be asking: What problems are there with contemplative or centering prayer? Does it honestly reflect prayer what the Bible says about prayer?
Visit www.lfbi.org/learnmore
The Postscript Show on Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/3sWcPlz...

[@JJ-fs8fu]

Thank you for highlighting this. I’m seeing first hand the damage this can do churches as it can be extremely subtle. I’ve been searching for someone to raise the alarm. Thank you again

[@thepostscriptshow]

Thank you very much for listening!

[@nathanpack-sz1bo]

​@thepostscriptshow My family and I have been at the same church for over 10 years. Sunday our pastor extensively quoted and taught from a Henri Nouwen book. I looked into him and addressed concerns with the pastor. He defended his position and went on to recommend contemplative prayer to me along with lectio divina. I feel heartbroken and sick....thoughts?

[@thepostscriptshow]

Hi @nathanpack-sz1bo , Thank you for the question and we are so glad that this episode reached you. Our advice would be to pray diligently about if the church you attend is a biblical one. We are praying for you! Let us know if you have anymore questions. God bless. - Admin of the Postscript

[@jennifercandace1]

My church just introduced lectio devina at a night of prayer. My spidey senses were on full alert and i turned in my seat to see everyone thinking the same as me, only to see nothing but acceptance. My husband and i brought this with references to the dangers of it to our pastor who assured us that the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Not sure of our next steps but I'm watching everything now.

[@thepostscriptshow]

Praying for you as you consider your next steps. We are so glad that this episode reached you. God Bless.

[@os6og]

Wow this was really insightful and well done. Thank you so much. Over a year ago the church we were part of started teaching contemplative spirituality and focusing on spiritual formation (silent prayer / breath prayer / imaginative prayer / Richard Foster’s spiritual disciplines / etc) and recommending books by John Mark Comer, Richard Foster, Ruth Haley Barton, and many others. Most people didn’t (and still don’t) seem to have an issue with it. I think it’s partially because Bible verses are quoted and it’s packaged as “silence and solitude” (which people assume means typical quiet time), or a deeper way to “be with Jesus” (which may sound good), so there’s no automatic red flags. Unless someone studies the verses in context on their own and sees how they’re misused, they assume the pastor and the church leadership are teaching truth. 💔 I appreciate you talking about this in such a clear way.

[@thepostscriptshow]

Thank you so much for such a thoughtful comment. We are so glad you found this video insightful! God Bless.

[@viconmypc]

Awesome. Thank you for this! It could almost sound like a good idea until you finish out the thought and consider where it might lead. Thanks guys, God bless!

[@thepostscriptshow]

Thank you for tuning in! Glad you enjoyed the episode!

[@reallybro1611]

Good stuff! Thank you!

[@thepostscriptshow]

Glad you liked it! Thanks for listening!!

[@steps2truth6885]

Thank you for this. I live in the UK and a church I almost moved to did a so called "bible study" on contemplative prayer 24/7 by Pete Greig from Emmaus Road Church. After much prayer God has given me the gift of discernment and has protected me from deception. Why do some Christians who have a knowledge of the Truth fail to recognise a cloud without water when they see one?

[@majo.aguilar]

Great episode!

[@colinfoster7655]

Thank you for this. It is in our church but more subtly which seems in some ways even more sinister as they promote this but use different words to describe it and then use this as evidence that it is not what it actually is.

[@thepostscriptshow]

Glad this episode found you. We will be praying for you. God bless.

[@user-hi8rg7bl2s]

Thoroughly biblical. Helpful! Thank you.

[@thepostscriptshow]

We are so glad this was helpful! Thank you for listening!

[@nancym4049]

Thank you for doing this. Very helpful.

[@dfel549]

This was an excellent episode.

[@thepostscriptshow]

Thanks for listening!

[@pinkglow7]

What do you think of lectio divina? A friend is turning members of our church to this. It makes me very uncomfortable.

[@thepostscriptshow]

They need to avoid it. Might end up connecting to a wrong spirit. A great account on Facebook covers a great deal on new age problem. They are Catholic, but are hard core against all the new age craziness. They do a lot of research on all the latest fads. Examples. (13) Christian Answers for the New Age | Facebook They have many posts on the subject. You can also just search Christian Answers fo the New Age into Facebook search. Let us know if this helps. God Bless! - Answer given by Pastor Sam Miles

[@debravan-aalst4723]

What is Lectio Davina please?

[@thepostscriptshow]

The Lectio Divina is a Benedictine monastic practice originating in the 6th Century. The principles we discussed in the contemplative prayer episode would apply. It's our position that contemplative prayer practices (in general Catholic tradition manifestations) do more to disconnect you from the will of God than connect you. Answer given by Brandon Briscoe. God Bless.

[@debravan-aalst4723]

@@thepostscriptshow thank you

[@shizlegizmgar]

“I believed the voice of my belly.” Paul- “Their god is their bellies.”

[@IamTheRealZODIAC]

Are you guys Catholic or Protestant or Orthodox?

[@thepostscriptshow]

Thank you for your question. We hold to a baptistic theology and believe the Bible is the final authority concerning faith and practice. We do not fit within any of the popular definitions of what it means to be Orthodox, Catholic, or Protestant historically or theologically. We recommend our Church History playlist for more information on this topic: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eV6UoGyXqdClaK8 Thank you for listening! God bless.