Rob Voyle's Appreciative Way Blog
Additional Articles By Year: 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010
Teach Us to Pray
Posted: July 22, 2016 by Rob Voyle
This weeks Gospel (Luke 11:1-13) one of the disciples ask Jesus, "Teach us to
pray, as John taught his disciples."
Apparently John was known for teaching his disciples to pray. What is not clear
from the request is whether the disciple is asking Jesus to teach them to be
motivated to actually pray or to teach them "how" to pray.
Jesus' response seems to cover both bases. He teaches them what to say when they
pray, and then gives a discourse on God as a loving parent who will respond
favorable to people who pray. And the answer to our prayers is the Spirit.
The whole point of prayer is not to get stuff, or change other people, or change
ourselves but to abide in the Spirit.
Perfunctory prayers said before meetings, especially by professional pray-ers,
are of little benefit when the goal is to center oneself and the group in the
Spirit. My pet peeve is that such prayers and many liturgies are said with such
speed that the only purpose of doing them is to get them done before we can go
and do something else that is more important. I also have a gripe about prayers
that begin with the word "may" or are punctuated by the word "just."
Prayer is about communicating with God. We need to spend as much time listening
as we do talking if we are to effectively communicate. I ponder what would
happen with my friends if I talked to them like many people pray...
When I began this journey with Jesus many years ago I read a small book on
conversational payer by Rosalind Rinker. She offered a simple way for
individuals and groups to gather and converse with God. Over the years I have
found that the more I pray the less I say, the more I listen and the more
centered in the Spirit I become.
So many congregations want to grow, they keep telling God they want to grow, but
do they listen. We want to be given more people, make up the numbers pay the
bills and God wants to give us the Spirit.
All revivals, all times of transformation, begin with a fresh understanding of
the nature of God. Whether it be the revivals of Abraham, Ezra and Nehemiah,
Jesus, Paul, the birth of new monastic orders, Martin Luther, the reformation,
John Wesley, all began with a fresh understanding of the nature of God.
Even in our own lives the times of transformation where preceded by a new
understanding of the nature of God. The old God in our understanding could not
take us to the place we needed to go and it was the new God in our understanding
that empowered transformation. Maybe God doesn't change, but clearly our
understanding of God does.
If you really want to create transformation in your congregation the first thing
you will need to do is to teach the people to pray. To create a sacred space
where people can receive the Spirit which is the answer to prayer.
Without a new understanding of God, the old God in understanding will continue
to give you what you already have.
With a few moments of silence...
Rob Voyle
Director, Clergy Leadership Institute
See Restoring Hope for healing and change strategies based in the Appreciative Way.
Additional Articles By Year: 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010
Previous Posts By Category
Coaching
- I Saw Satan Fall From Heaven
- Church Growth Makes Absolutely no Sense
- Agents of Change or Agents of God, and What's Christmas Got to Do With It?
- Are You Using the Right Map?
- Coaching: Paul's Conundrum Explained
- Goals Must Be Imaginable
- Coaching Next Steps to Achieving Goals
- Shaman 101: Change the Question
- Changing the Paradigm of Blame
- The Sermon I Need to Hear this Christmas
- Blue Christmas Meditation
- What's the Purpose, What's My Purpose?
- Church Growth and Making Disciples
- Thinking about Language: Are People Assets or Treasures?
- Transfiguration and Agents of Transformation
- Managing Resistance to Change
- Ensuring Change is a Blessing
- Growing Leaders Through Intentional Coaching
- Forget Balance, Get Integrated!
- Get Feed-Forward not Feed-Back
- The Power of Great Questions
Forgiveness
- No Reconciliation Without Repentance
- Moving Mountains of Resentment and Uprooting Mulberry Trees of Misery
- Teach Your Congregation to Forgive: Five Week Lenten program
- Forgiveness and Standing Silent Before the Pilates of this World
- Transforming Anger Into Practical Compassion
- Teaching Forgiveness and Staying in Love
- Stick with Love if You Want Others to Change
- I Tried, But I Just Can't Forgive: Part II
- I Tried, But I Just Can't Forgive: Part I
- The Power to Resolve the Past Is Within You?
- Teach Them How to Forgive this Sunday
- Transforming Victim Narratives: Mark 7:24-30
- 9/11: Resentment, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation
Leadership
- Parishioners and Staff are Treasures not Assets
- Anglican Primates: My Appreciative Way Perspective on the Conflict
- Leadership is About Empowering not Controlling
- Who is the Greatest: Calling Forth the Best
- Discovering the Power of an Ennobling Dream
- Incarnational Leadership
- Core Leadership Competencies: Three Ways of Being a Leader.
- Core Leadership Competencies: The Art of Wise Pruning.
- Core Competencies for Being Your Congregation's Chief: Asking Powerful Questions.
- Core Leadership Competencies: Empowering Others
- Core Competencies for Being Your Congregation's Chief
- Creating Sustainable Change through Incarnational Leadership
- The Challenge of Growing the Church
- All Sustainable Change is an Inside Job
- The Importance of Understanding Your Purpose
- Thinking and Acting Like a Leader
Performance Review
Sermon
- Those Damn Foreigners!
- No, You Don't Want to Take Your Ministry to the Next Level
- Why Be Good
- Teach Us to Pray
- We Are God's Chosen People Not God's Protected People
- Easter and Three Stories When Bad Stuff Happens
- An Appreciative Lent
- Remembering Dr. King
- Find Resurrection this Easter not Reincarnation
- Lent, Coaching, Change and Transformation
- Doing the Unexpected this Christmas
- Appreciatively Thinking about Lent and the Ten commandments
- Thinking about Lent, Sin, and Grace
- Lent and an Appreciative Approach to Repentance
Teaching Love
Tigers
Previous Posts By Date
2016
- The Amur Tigers Need You!
- No Reconciliation Without Repentance
- Confessions and Repentance for Election Failure!
- Those Damn Foreigners!
- Moving Mountains of Resentment and Uprooting Mulberry Trees of Misery
- Teach Your Congregation to Forgive: Five Week Lenten program
- No, You Don't Want to Take Your Ministry to the Next Level
- Parishioners and Staff are Treasures not Assets
- Why Be Good
- Teach Us to Pray
- Good Samaritans and What Is Love Calling Us To Do
- I Saw Satan Fall From Heaven
- We Are God's Chosen People Not God's Protected People
- Forgiveness and Standing Silent Before the Pilates of this World
- Transforming Anger Into Practical Compassion
- Teaching Forgiveness and Staying in Love
- Church Growth Makes Absolutely no Sense
- Anglican Primates: My Appreciative Way Perspective on the Conflict
- Stick with Love if You Want Others to Change
2015
- Agents of Change or Agents of God, and What's Christmas Got to Do With It?
- Teaching People How to Say Yes to Sex
- Leadership is About Empowering not Controlling
- Who is the Greatest: Calling Forth the Best
- What in God's name is Going On Here?
- I Tried, But I Just Can't Forgive: Part II
- I Tried, But I Just Can't Forgive: Part I
- The Power to Resolve the Past Is Within You?
- Are You Using the Right Map?
2014
- Christmas: God the slow learner, but thank Jesus, God learns!
- People in the Church Love Change!
- Teach Them How to Forgive this Sunday
- Coaching: Paul's Conundrum Explained
- Goals Must Be Imaginable
- Coaching Next Steps to Achieving Goals
- Mutual Ministry Valuation
- I Hate Performance Reviews: Creating Cultures of Excellence
- Why did Christianity Flourish: The Power of Your Easter Story
- Easter and Three Stories When Bad Stuff Happens
- Shaman 101: Change the Question
- The Search Process: It is not Dating
- Discovering the Power of an Ennobling Dream
2013
- Incarnational Leadership
- Changing the Paradigm of Blame
- Core Leadership Competencies: Three Ways of Being a Leader.
- Core Leadership Competencies: The Art of Wise Pruning.
- Core Competencies for Being Your Congregation's Chief: Asking Powerful Questions.
- Core Leadership Competencies: Empowering Others
- Core Competencies for Being Your Congregation's Chief
- An Appreciative Lent
2012
- The Sermon I Need to Hear this Christmas
- Blue Christmas Meditation
- Remembering Dr. King
- What's the Purpose, What's My Purpose?
- The Language of Growing in Love
- Church Growth and Making Disciples
- Transforming Victim Narratives: Mark 7:24-30
- Creating Sustainable Change through Incarnational Leadership
- Find Resurrection this Easter not Reincarnation
- Lent, Coaching, Change and Transformation
- Thinking about Language: Are People Assets or Treasures?
- From Transfiguration to Tempting Job Offers
- Transfiguration and Agents of Transformation
- Managing Resistance to Change
2011
2010
- The Importance of Understanding Your Purpose
- Thinking about Lent, Sin, and Grace
- Ensuring Change is a Blessing
- Thinking and Acting Like a Leader
- Growing Leaders Through Intentional Coaching
- Forget Balance, Get Integrated!
- Get Feed-Forward not Feed-Back
- Lent and an Appreciative Approach to Repentance
- The Power of Great Questions
The Appreciative Way
Discover the essentials of the
Appreciative Way in this fast
read format book by
Rob and Kim Voyle.
About the Author
Rob Voyle
The Rev. Dr. Rob Voyle is a leader in the development and use of appreciative inquiry in church and coaching settings.
Rob's Approach to Training
- Helpful: Training must provide practical, sustainable solutions for today's challenges.
- Humorous: Creativity and humor go together as people enjoy new insights.
- Healing: I create opportunities for people to experience transformational insights that lead to new ways of living, working, and being in the world.
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See more on Rob's
Helpful, Humorous, Healing
approach to training.