Classical or jazz praying?

Do you prefer classical or jazz music? Beethoven or Thelonious Monk?

Both are beautiful styles of music that I enjoy greatly, but they are very different. With classical music, there is a composed score and the job of the musician is to follow it perfectly. With jazz music, there is a chord progression and melody, but other than that, the job of the musician is to improvise as much as they can.

When I took a preaching workshop in my early years of pastoring, the speaker said he was a "jazz preacher," meaning he got up Sunday morning with very little notes (or none) and improvised his way through the preaching as he felt led by the Spirit. He had all of us do the same in the workshop.

At that time in my ministry, I spent quite a few hours researching my sermons and crafting them, and I usually went to the pulpit on a Sunday morning with a script. I didn't read the script word for word, but used it as my guide for speaking that morning (spoiler alert: I still do).

When the jazz preacher declared that his way was the correct way to preach, my thought was (and still is), "If the Holy Spirit can inspire you Sunday morning when you stand up to speak, He can inspire me Wednesday afternoon when I sit down to write my sermon." In that way, I am more of a "classical" preacher than a "jazz" preacher.

Please don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying that preachers should never sway from their notes on a Sunday morning. There have been times where God has basically had me throw out a prepared sermon in favour of speaking a different message. I'm simply saying my usual modus operandi is to prepare beforehand. It's not better or worse - it's just the way God works through me.

Beethoven, Handel, and Tchaikovsky (technically not a classical composer) composed very inspired and inspirational music. So did jazz musicians. Yesterday I listened to Oscar Peterson's "Hymn to Freedom" and was once again amazed by his jazz musicianship.

OK. So why am I telling you all this? Because of how this exact analogy also applies to our prayer life.

I have heard it said, "You got the Holy Ghost in you! You don't need to read someone else's prayers. You can just pray as you feel led by the Spirit!" This was usually followed by an "Amen, brother!" or "Hallelujah, sister!" from the crowd.

On the one hand, the person is correct. Every follower of Jesus has the Holy Spirit in them, and the Spirit helps us pray. He intercedes for us with "groanings too deep for words" (Rom 8:26).  He also releases the gift of speaking in tongues, which can help us pray (Acts 10:44-46). Or, he may simply inspire us with the right words for prayer at the right time. In other words, "jazz praying" is a viable way to pray.

But it's not the only way.

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, he didn't reply, "Just pray as you feel led." He said, "Pray like this..." and then gave them the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6). He gave them words and a format. Did he mean, "Say these words exactly every time"? I don't think so. But he gave us the Lord's Prayer to teach people how to pray.

There are times I am tongue-tied in prayer, when I cannot articulate the thought in my mind or the groaning in my heart. When I feel like this, sometimes I pray in tongues, and sometimes I read the prayers of the saints. There is something about reading the well-formed prayers of spiritual giants that gives me a sense of rootedness and connection with God. I feel like these prayers add depth to my prayers, AND also teach me how to pray.

Let me give you an example. This morning, I read out loud a prayer by John Baillie in A Diary of Private Prayer, and made it my own prayer. This is how it ended:

Let me not, when this morning prayer is said, think my worship ended and spend the day in forgetfulness of Thee. Rather from these moments of quietness let light go forth, and joy, and power, that will remain with me through all the hours of the day;

Keeping me chaste in thought:
Keeping me temperate and truthful in speech:
Keeping me faithful and diligent in my work:
Keeping me humble in my estimation of myself:
Keeping me honourable and generous in my dealings with others:
Keeping me loyal to every hallowed memory of the past:
Keeping me mindful of my eternal destiny as a child of Thine...

Through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.

What a beautiful way to close out a time of morning prayer! I could not have articulated myself so well without the help of this prayer. 

PAUSE and REFLECT: Do you feel a little stuck in prayer? Not sure how to grow or take the next step in building your prayer life? I highly recommend reading / praying the prayers of the saints. I find them to be deep and meaningful, helping me to embrace the presence of my faithful God and build my faith on the foundation of 2,000 years of the Body of Christ calling out to Jesus.

Today is St Patrick's Day. In the next post I'll put the entire prayer known as St Patrick's Breastplate. Perhaps this is a good place for you to begin (or continue) growing in prayer.

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Photo by Namroud Gorguis on Unsplash