I’m currently proofreading an edited version of the manuscript that, in July 2011, will be released as Christ’s Empowering Presence. In chapter 7 of this book my focus is on  the set of “rules” for holy living put forward by a seventeenth-century Anglican churchman named Jeremy Taylor. Better thought of as suggestions, these  “rules” were intended by Taylor to enable his readers to experience the presence of God in their daily lives and respond appropriately to it. Here’s an excerpt from my manuscript I feel led of the Lord to share with my friends today: 

Rule #2

            Taylor’s second “rule” has to do with the way in which his readers conduct their times of devotion. Taylor suggests that as we begin our quiet times we should spend a few moments in worship: picturing God with the eyes of faith; rehearsing the reasons why he is worthy of our time, attention, and praise; imagining ourselves in his very presence. According to Taylor, this simple act of connecting with God in a way that is both volitional-intellectual and mystical-experiential will have a tremendously positive effect upon our devotional exercises. 

“In the beginning of actions of religion, make an act of adoration, that is, solemnly worship God, and place thyself in God’s presence, and behold Him with the eye of faith; and let thy desires actually fix on Him as the object of thy worship, and the reason of thy hope, and the fountain of thy blessing. For when thou hast placed thyself before Him and kneelest in His presence, it is most likely all the following parts of thy devotion will be answerable to the wisdom of such an apprehension, and the glory of such a presence.”[1]

            When talking to my university students, either in class or in one-on-one counseling sessions, I will often make the distinction between our conversing with God and our merely talking at him. I will point out that what some of us are really doing during “prayer” is merely rehearsing our worrisome thoughts toward the idea of God rather than genuinely sharing our burdens with him in a real, person-to-person manner. 

            I’m convinced that Jesus would have us understand that prayer can be a real conversation we have with God, confident that we are being listened to by a gracious, loving heavenly Father who genuinely cares for us. This is the kind of praying that produces: (a) a real sense of peace in our hearts; and (b) real results in the world! Rather than merely talk at, or worry toward, the idea of God, we can and should converse with him. To do this, we need to take rule #2 seriously and begin our prayer times with an act of adoration, reckoning with God’s real presence, focusing our heart and mind on the fact that we are about to converse with a very real spiritual entity who also happens to be our loving heavenly Father. 

I hope this distinction between speaking to God in prayer rather than merely talking at him (or worse, at the mere idea of him) is as helpful to you as it is to me. At the very least it provides us with … 

Something to think about. 

[1] Jeremy Taylor: Selected Writings, “Holy Living,” ed. C. H. Sisson (Manchester, England: Carcanet Press Limited, 1990),, 62–63.