The End of Education
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV
Study – “It is easier to study than to pray. It is harder to become a God-fearing person than a scholar. The evil spirit permits learning.”[1]
Heschel’s comment sends shock waves through our Greek orientation. We read this Pauline verse as an exhortation to scholarship. We went to Bible studies. We bought books. We listened to sermons and took notes. We discussed (and argued). We learned the languages. We thought that we had to know in order to approach God correctly.
We were mistaken.
YHVH revealed Himself to ex-slaves. While these were not simple people, they were certainly not erudite. They were the am ha’eretz, the people of the earth, often looked down upon by even their own religious authorities. We do much the same thing. Simple faith is viewed as inadequate, uneducated, lazy. But Heschel is right. It is harder to pray than to study. I know. Maybe you do too. I want to pray. I want to let God into my very personal conversation. I want to feel His presence in the quiet space of my life. But I find it so much easier to investigate the grammar of Ruth 1:17 than to push aside the constant barrage of distraction when I turn to prayer. Prayer takes enormous work for those of us whose lives are filled with “reasonableness.” We are in strange territory. We know the landscape of scholarship but in this neck of the woods we are lost. Perhaps that’s because prayer is not something I can control.
Heschel once mentioned that we do not pray in the same manner that we would have a conversation with another human being. Prayer is not about me talking to God. It is my attempt to have God notice me. And I’m afraid to admit it, but most of the time I am too busy with my own thoughts and concerns to actually be ready for a conversation with God. Most of the time I treat prayer in the same way that I am half-attuned to conversations with my wife. I hear her words but I don’t hear her soul. Maybe the reason prayer is so difficult is because I am not ready to hear the soul of the Lord weeping over me. And there you go. That last sentence was another example of intellectual control of the idea of prayer.
What would your prayers be like if you gave up trying to manage them?
Topical Index: study, prayer, control, 2 Timothy 2:15
[1] Abraham Heschel, A Passion for Truth, p. 56.
Prayer for me consists of two things: unplugging from all that is not YHVH and replugging back into Him. Taking me and everything else back off the throne and reinstalling Him. Repentance and worship.
I crashed and burned yesterday. I hit a wall and collapsed. At least I saw the wall and knew it was one. At least I didn’t think I should continue to fight it. At least I surrendered. At least I was able to acknowledge that I couldn’t do it. At least I was kind enough to myself to reach out to others who had resources to fix it. All those are vast improvements for me, but I have so much further to go.
Prayer connects: prayer is the essence of connection. It fixes my relationship with God, but also with myself and everyone and everything else. Because it does, I have to bring all those connections into my prayers. Pain is there to teach me where the fractures are. Pain is not punishment. Pain is not a way to holiness. Pain is not character building in and of itself. Pain is simply information. I learned so many bad habits the years I was committing the sin of thinking it was all up to me. I abused pain in all the above ways and so many more. I didn’t listen. Pain is the very heart of God. It exists to let me know where He is at any given place it exists. He lets me feel that pain so that I can readjust myself back into alignment with Him. In other words, pain is there to alert me that I am supposed to DO SOMETHING. Unfortunately, I learned so many wrong things to believe and to do. In all the places in my life that I am not responding correctly to pain I might as well be Monty Python’s marching monks bashing my own face with a board; serving and reserving the same information over and over instead of reading the telegram.
Fracture hurts. It is supposed to! That hurt tells me it exists, but there is only one correct response to fracture, and that is to get it repaired. Pain tells me that something needs to be fixed. What I have to realize is what is broken. Fear is pain. Depression is pain. Discouragement is pain. Loneliness is pain. These are not messengers from God to test me, tempt me, make me stronger or make me more righteous, even though any and all of those may be secondary side effects. No, pain tells me that something is disconnected; a plug has been yanked out of my wall. Prayer, then, is the correct response to pain, but even though I can pray for endurance, patience, etc. when I hurt, if I am asking for secondary benefits, so to speak, I may still not be addressing the real issue, which is why I hurt in the first place, for as long as I do not recognize why the pain is there, I am still not sharing the true heart of God. He doesn’t want me to hurt: he wants me to want what He wants, which is to get the fracture fixed. If prayer is not addressing that, when it comes to pain, anyway, it may not even be prayer, for prayer is the sharing of two hearts; not just one. I am learning that the better response to pain is not to grit my teeth, grin or just bear it; no, I need to HURT when I hurt; I need to stop, drop and roll when I am on fire. That is what people do who value their lives. Everything else may actually be a practice of death. When you touch the stove, only insane people try to adjust themselves to the results of not removing their hand. Reconnection with the Great Connector short-curcuits all the other fractures. If I agree, that is.
I think there is a good reason why scripture mentions that knowledge puffs up.
We tend to be a people of way too many words often just intent on being “right” and showing off said knowledge.
Learning to keep one’s mouth shut and actively listen is a good place to start. More time to pray in the spaces created 🙂
It would be the beginning of walking with God,…
Indeed. My answer to Skip’s question is similar. If I stopped attempting to manage my prayer life, “praying without ceasing” would be as natural as breathing.
“For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to people but to God—for no one understands, but in the Ruach he speaks mysteries.”
“One who speaks in a tongue builds up himself.”
“Now I want you all to speak in tongues…”
“For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.”
“I will pray in my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind.”
“I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.”
(1Cor. 14)
“There is no end to the making of many books, and excessive study wearies the flesh. A final word, when all has been heard: Fear God and keep His mitzvot! For this applies to all mankind.”
(Eccl. 12:12-13)
If no one interprets it doesn’t edify .
Prayer is our true work for in it we are united with the lover of our soul who longs for us with all his being as our thirsty soul needs Him with all of ours. Link Removed
Duty? Drudgery? or Delight?
“And when you pray..” (Matthew 6.5)
Prayer is assumed by our Savior. “If” [I prefer “since” or “because”] we belong to Him, we will pray. Prayer is going to happen. We might go so far as to say “breathing” is going to happen. Prayer for the twice-born child of Elohim is as natural as breathing. Supernaturally natural? or Naturally supernatural?
We learn by doing. — Just do it! Our Father listens to our heart far more than our words!! Prayer is a “tune-up!” Whether whispered prayers or shouted prayers — prayer covers the “A — Z” of everything we are or hope to be!
And please!! Enuf of the “laundry list” or “organ recital!” God is not a vending machine where we put in a coin (or prayer) and God dispenses an answer. Praying is much more than asking our rich uncle to “open up” his wallet! We have no earthly idea of how good, kind or compassionate our [are you listening?] our ALWAYS good Father is!
Christian, I will inquire… Is prayer a Duty? Drudgery? or Delight? Just do it. Friend, spend some time and give some attention to the One you love today.
Nice one Carl, this is the sort of posting that speaks to me rather than quotations. Thanks
Hello to You,
Communication with YHVH is when YHVH is real with me and I am real with him! The tear-drop that falls down my face over a situation in life that feels too close for comfort, the “oh s..t” expressed out of frustration, the thought that asks a deep question in simple every day English, maybe not the ones we have been taught as table grace or bedtime prayers, or made up but repeat revisions of for the umpteenth time, but ones that are prayed as the Ruach in part inspires us to express. Being real, being ourselves, being who and what YHVH intended us to be, his created son and daughter talking with him! What parent doesn’t like to hear from their son or daughter just because?? Cool stuff for us to do today, talk to our almighty Dad! Me first!
David
It may be of interest to look at the difference between some of the prayer practices of the East and West in order to to see what influence Greco-Roman thinking has on our Western prayer practice. From my limited observations I understand that the Jews (mostly) read Liturgical prayers from a prayer book, of which the majority of these prayers are the Psalms, while Prostantants (mostly) pray extempraniously. Westerners who do practice High Church liturgy will often recite prayers from memory, while many Jews do not do so even if they are very familiar with them and could easily recite them from memory, as some rabbis apparently teach that the written words must be read. Accordingly, the Shema, the most repeated prayer in Judaism must be read, not recited, in order to receive the blessings from it. Orthodox Jews pray 3 times a day at scheduled times ( corresponding to the times of the sacrifical offerings in the Temple eras) while Westerners tend to pray on a “as needed basis”. Morning prayers of the Orthodox Jew is lengthy (as long as 2 hours or more) while the prayers of Westerners are usually much shorter in duration. Just some observations; what they mean I will leave it to others more qualified than me to sort out and muse upon. As for me it is time for prayer! Oh wait, we are not to announce our piety are we? Another difference!
My rabbi at Adat Hatikvah, gave an excellent sermon on prayer last month.
It’s the one on 2/11/17 titled: James: Effective Prayer. I was out of town that day, but listened on line and thought it was excellent. And, of course, I was deeply touched when he mentioned John, my hubby, on two occasions.
Also, one of my take aways from the sermon was that the Biblical model for prayers is that they were usually “short.” I think we often make the mistake of thinking we need to pray for hours. Not so, according to Scripture.
http://www.adathatikvah.org/sermons-2/
Enjoying the awesome message on prayer and reality of life in Messiah. What a privilege to have acess to such a fellowship. .
We really take prayer for granted it is more than just what we think it is intercession for other people is on the top of the list this applications Philippians says it all with Thanksgiving praying without ceasing is a constant relationship with the Creator skip said it in one of his lectures on prayer we were made to have communication with our creator
Maybe Herschel missed the point as did Paul…
Let’s revisit the Lord’s Prayer. But start with the instruction first to understand it. Seek first the kingdom and his righteousness…. And all will be added…
This has been my thought today.
Seeking God’s kingdom is what… Torah or ten words…
And his righteousness is what treat others as they treat you or do unto others as you desire they do unto you…
Or is there something else…
Deut 4 and 6, Then Prov 3…. Job 28, Numbers 26… All highlighting another answer as Micah 6 and Malachi 2 also do…
Skip,
Love what you do. This is not on topic, but I cannot resolve the discrepancy between the Matthew 27 version and the Acts 1 version of the death of Judas. Is there a translation problem? Explanations found on the web are not at all convincing. Thanks.
“Lord, teach us to pray.”
The more I study the Mishnah (Pirkei Avot), the more I am discovering the incredible similarities of thought throughout the Hebraic community of that time. Shaul’s words, in this verse, are strikingly similar to Rabbi Elazar’s words in Pirkei Avot 2:14. “Rabbi Elazar says: Be diligent in learning Torah, and know what to respond to one who denigrates the Torah. Know before Whom you labor–the Master of your work is trustworthy to pay you the wage for your activity.” This is not on the topic of prayer (which, btw Skip, is piercing to the core), but this brings to mind the purpose of study. Shaul says to study “to show yourself approved.” Not to show yourself knowledgeable, but to apply what is learned in every practical way. Once again, Greek seeks knowledge for the sake of knowledge; Hebrew seeks in order to demonstrate. Remarkably similar to Yeshua’s teaching to “let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works…”
Sorry…didn’t mean to give you thumbs down. I wanted to “read more”. Touch screens…I like your post!
I get this so much. For me, my prayer life is sporadic and not consistent. I want to set apart time alone for intercession but don’t often do it.
I get this so much. For me, I want to be consisent in my prayer life but am not often. It’s more sporadic. I have great faith though and consistently see prayers answered (I love to pray for people’s needs in person, over the phone, online etc) because I believe in faith when I pray. I want to develop my prayer life beyond sporadic but don’t discipline myself. So then I try to throw down guilt from the enemy and my legalism…. but I really think I’m just being lazy.
For lack of knowledge, GOD’s people are destroyed; ignorance is not bliss.
We do need to study, to be well rooted in HIS Tanakh ways, so as not to be misled!
Shalom!
It true , I’m a Christian it seems when I get on my knees all manner of things come to mind . I soon happy I have a Father in heaven who makes intercession for me . Jesus prayed ,His prayers brought results , Paul of Tarsus was the same . Prayers changes things it makes crooked path straight the impossible a reality .
Amazing.. What a perspective that completely convicted me. Thank you.
Amazing perpective. This bessed me so much Thank you
This blessed me. Thank you