a year of Living Prayerfully How a Curious Traveler Met the Pope, Walked on Coals, Danced with Rabbis, and REVIVED HIS PRAYER LIFE jared brock year_of_living_prayerfully_a.indd 3 11/25/2014 11:40:41 AM Seven Ways to Pray here are a few prayer ideas to get you started. Remember: prayer is about relationship, not routine. It doesn’t have to be boring! 1. Shalom If you watch the news, witness a conflict, or hear of a tough situation, pray for peace. You can also say hello or good-bye or sign your e-mails with this powerful, one-word prayer. 2. Bible verses If you read a verse that sounds like it could be a prayer for a certain situation, tailor it accordingly and pray it out loud. 3. Silence As the Rule of Taizé encourages, “maintain inner silence in all things so as to dwell with Christ.” Practice stillness in order to commune with Jesus. 4. Move Attach physicality to spirituality, whether it’s through breathing, walking, running, eating, bathing, or driving. Get creative! 5. Hold in the light Have you run out of words to pray? Picture someone in the light of God’s grace. Hold them there, and ask God to do what only He can do. 319 year_of_living_prayerfully_a.indd 319 11/25/2014 11:41:20 AM A Year of Living Prayerfully 6. Prevail Write down a list of everyone you know who is far from God who you’d like to be filled with life in Christ. Speak their names out loud every day. Commit to sixty-three years and eight months! 7. Sing If a song fits a situation that you’ve been praying about, use it as a tool to express your thoughts to God. If you’d like Jared to lead your church or group through these prayers, he has prepared a special talk titled “A Good Old-Fashioned Prayer Meeting.” Please visit JaredBrock.com / speaking for details. 320 year_of_living_prayerfully_a.indd 320 11/25/2014 11:41:20 AM Notes CHAPTER 1: HAMILTON, ONTARIO 5 send out workers into [the] harvest field: Matthew 9:38. CHAPTER 2: NEW YORK CITY 16 We have come to know man as he really is: Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning (Boston: Beacon Press, 2006), 134. 16 the pledge of allegiance for Jewish people: Charlie Harary, “Hear O Israel,” Aish .com, http://www.aish.com/sp/pg/Hear_O_Israel.html. 18 time to become the answer to our own prayers: See Shane Claiborne, Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 2008). 21 the siddur is our gift to God: Benjamin Blech, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Understanding Judaism, 2nd ed. (New York: Penguin Group, 2003), 293. CHAPTER 3: ISRAEL 42 your will be done . deliver us from the evil one: Matthew 6:10, 13. 48 great drops of blood: Luke 22:44, esv. 54 uncovered his feet: Ruth 3:7. CHAPTER 4: MOUNT ATHOS, GREECE 80 a rubble of stones overrun with rats: Michael Lewis, Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2011), 70–71. 81 Lawsuits are pending: You can read more about the controversy surrounding Vatopedi in Michael Lewis’s book Boomerang. 86 carbuncle on the face: Jonathan Glancey, “Life after Carbuncles,” The Guardian, May 17, 2004, http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2004/ may/17/architecture.regeneration. 87 in his bloodline: See Helena Smith, “Has Prince Charles Found His True Spiritual Home on a Greek Rock?” The Guardian, May 12, 2004, http://www .theguardian.com/uk/2004/may/12/monarchy.helenasmith. 325 year_of_living_prayerfully_a.indd 325 11/25/2014 11:41:20 AM A Year of Living Prayerfully CHAPTER 5: ITALY 105 sacred lots to determine God’s will: See Acts 1:23-26; Numbers 27:21. 115 work as if everything depended on you: Though it is sometimes attributed to John Wesley as well, the Vatican, in the Catechism of the Catholic church, attributes the quote to St. Ignatius. See “Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread” in part four, section two, article three of the Catechism. 117 almost 200,000 soldiers were killed or wounded: Peter Caddick-Adams, Monte Cassino: Ten Armies in Hell (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 8. 119 I must live my life with others: David Gibson, “Five Things We Learned about Pope Francis from His Blockbuster Interview,” Religion News Service, September 20, 2013, http://www.religionnews.com/2013/09/20/5-things -learned-pope-francis-blockbuster-interview/. 129–130 the Five-Finger Prayer: Omar Gutierrez, “A Simple Prayer Method from a Simple Pontiff,” CatholicVote, http://www.catholicvote.org/a-simple -prayer-method-from-a-simple-pontiff/. CHAPTER 6: SPAIN 144 You have the words of eternal life: John 6:68. 147 the Prayer of Quiet: St. Teresa, The Life of Teresa of Jesus: The Autobiography of St. Teresa of Ávila (New York: Doubleday, 2004), 61. 148 a band with iron points turning inwards: Frances Calderón de la Barca, Life in Mexico, repr. (1843; University of California Press, 1982), 286. CHAPTER 7: FRANCE 162 how to become wholly God’s: Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God, first letter. 162 to impress deeply upon his heart, the Divine existence: Brother Lawrence, Practice, fourth conversation. 163 I found no small pain in this exercise: Brother Lawrence, Practice, first letter. 163 I possess God in as great tranquility: Brother Lawrence, Practice, fourth conversation. 163–164 I am prevailed on by your importunities: Brother Lawrence, Practice, first letter. 164 Let us pray for one another: Brother Lawrence, Practice, fifteenth letter. 164 Men invent means and methods: Brother Lawrence, The Spiritual Maxims of Brother Lawrence. 164–165 this exercise of the presence of God: Brother Lawrence, Practice, sixth letter. 165 a holy habit: Brother Lawrence, Practice, ninth letter. 165 the best and easiest method I know: Brother Lawrence, Practice, ninth letter. 165 the end of all his actions: Brother Lawrence, Practice, second conversation. 165 mend what is amiss: Brother Lawrence, Practice, second conversation. 165 re-collect the mind easily: Brother Lawrence, Practice, eighth letter, emphasis mine. 165 a sense of the presence of God: Brother Lawrence, Practice, fourth conversation. 326 year_of_living_prayerfully_a.indd 326 11/25/2014 11:41:21 AM Notes 165 conversation of the soul: Brother Lawrence, Practice, second letter. 170 he was no more: Genesis 5:24. CHAPTER 8: EASTERN USA 190 the Quaker definition of “brief”: Faith and Practice, as adopted in 1988, Baltimore Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, http://www .bym-rsf.org/publications/fandp/1988approved/88section2.html. 191 rightly dividing the word of truth: 2 Timothy 2:15, kjv. 192 sit quietly and let God love me: Dick Eastman, The Hour That Changes the World: A Practical Plan for Personal Prayer (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2002), 37–38. 192 a voice of gentle silence: 1 Kings 19:12, kjv. See The Pulpit Commentary on 1 Kings 19:12, StudyLight.org, http://www.studylight.org/commentaries/tpc /view.cgi?bk=10&ch=19. 193 The Old Testament prophets: See Hosea 1:2; Ezekiel 4:4-17; Isaiah 20:1-6. 194 a small white building: “Nude Church in Virginia, White Tail Chapel, Invites You to Bare More than Your Naked Soul,” Huffington Post Religion, February 10, 2014, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/10/nude-church-white -tail-virginia_n_4763199.html. 199 become all things to all people . follow my example: 1 Corinthians 9:22; 11:1. 207 the soaking fleece: See Judges 6–7. 210 Let this cup pass from me: Matthew 26:39, kjv. 210 every unanswered prayer: A. E. Richardson, The Kneeling Christian (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1986), 38. 211 five malpractice lawsuits: Eben Alexander has faced scrutiny following the publication of Proof of Heaven, including a look at his malpractice suits. See, for example, “‘Proof of Heaven’ Doctor Faced a $3 Million Malpractice Lawsuit When He Fell into a Coma,” Daily Mail Online, December 24, 2013, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2529048/Proof-Heaven -doctor-faced-3million-malpractice-lawsuit-fell-coma.html. 218 the prayers that go unanswered: Mark Batterson, Be a Circle Maker: The Solution to 10,000 Problems (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), 28. 218 100 percent of the prayers we don’t pray: Mark Batterson, Praying Circles around Your Children (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 93. CHAPTER 9: THE OUTER LIMITS 225 a private jet named “Dove One”: “Dove One,” on Benny Hinn’s official website, accessed October 2, 2014, http://www.bennyhinn.org/articles/ articledesc.cfm?id=1000. 225 the circles in which Hinn rolls: See the following sources: Clifford Pugh, “After Move to $10.5 Million River Oaks Mansion, Joel Osteen Offers Tanglewood Land for $1.1 Million,” CultureMap Houston, July 9, 2010, http://houston .culturemap.com/news/real-estate/07-04-10-after-move-to-river-oaks-joel -osteen-wants-to-sell-tanglewood-land-for-11-million/; John Burgdorf, 327 year_of_living_prayerfully_a.indd 327 11/25/2014 11:41:21 AM A Year of Living Prayerfully “Kenneth Copeland’s 18,000+ Sq. Foot Lake House on Eagle Mountain Lake—Includes Airport!” North Texas Luxury (blog), July 4, 2011, http:// northtexasluxury.blogspot.ca/2011/07/kenneth-copelands-18000-sq-foot -lake.html; Mfonobong Nsehe, “The Five Richest Pastors in Nigeria,” Forbes, June 7, 2011, http://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/2011/06/07 /the-five-richest-pastors-in-nigeria/; Nina Golgowski, “Private Jets, 13 Mansions and a $100,000 Mobile Home Just for the Dogs: Televangelists ‘Defrauded Tens of Million [sic] of Dollars from Christian Network,’” Daily Mail Online, March 23, 2012, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article -2119493/Private-jets-13-mansions-100-000-mobile-home-just-dogs -Televangelists-defrauded-tens-million-dollars-Christian-network.html; “List of the Richest Pastors Worldwide,” Nehanda Radio, January 7, 2014, http://nehandaradio.com/2014/01/07/list-of-the-richest-pastors-worldwide/; Marlow Stern, “‘Mission Congo’ Alleges Pat Robertson Exploited Post- Genocide Rwandans for Diamonds,” Daily Beast, September 7, 2013, http:// www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/09/07/doc-mission-congo-alleges-pat -robertson-exploited-post-genocide-rwandans-for-diamonds.html.