In a September 2023 posting on the Tearfund website under the title Hearing God's word and whisper for global justice, Pete Greig argues that we must regard prayer as a conversation with God - and rather than "talking at him" we should start by listening to what he has to say to us. It is also relevant to our prayers for the more recent eruption of violence in Gaza and the ongoing tensions between Israelis and Palestinians, that have generated much comment and practical support to the different parties involved from national leaders across the world.
Prayer should be a two-way conversation, as exemplified by Jesus in his prayers during Holy Week when despite his anxiety about his forthcoming death he accepted that it was all part of his Father's plan for mankind.
It is equally important that we seek to see the problems and issues in the world the way our God and Father does, and not to be unduly influenced by the wide range of opinions that surround us. To do this we need to immerse ourselves in understanding what our Heavenly Father has to say to us in the words of scripture. And to remember that Jesus' criticism of the scribes and pharisees was about their focus on their status and the trivia of religious practice while neglecting the poor and underprivileged, whom they perhaps regarded as undeserving.
Pete Greig suggests that:
1. Our prayers should be a slow, painful conversation with the Lord who is already there in the midst of the suffering.
2. When we fail to listen we may feel guilt and exhaustion because it’s utterly impossible to keep up with all the world’s problems.
3. When we talk without listening our prayers are from our personal, subjective perspective - not necessarily the same as God’s!.
He suggests three practical pointers, from his book How to Hear God, to help us grow in our ability to discern the voice of God.
1. God speaks first and foremost through the Bible, so we must begin our search for his voice within its pages. Writings 2000 years ago could not imagine the world of the 21st century, but human nature and human needs are no different. So we must immerse ourselves in the Bible's teaching and listen for our Father to speak to us through it - as Pete Greig puts it, to listen for God's whisper. Especially in relation to the poor, oppressed and dispossessed - whether they are on our doorstep or half a world away from us. So, he writes, "we must begin by listening to God’s word about injustice in scripture with a willingness to be challenged."
2. God's whisper in silence: Greig writes: When praying for justice, I try to begin by sitting quietly, wordlessly holding the situation before the Lord. In these moments of stillness I may sigh deeply, allowing the situation to affect my own heart and becoming aware, as I do so, that God is neither distant nor dispassionate. Learn to listen for the ‘still, small voice’ of God in the quietness. Listen for "God's whisper in the silence"
3. God's word for us in the wider culture: Keep our eyes and ears open to anything God may be saying through the world he’s made. The great theologian Karl Barth argued that we need ‘the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.’ So we must listen for God’s word for those on the margins from those on the margins. We don’t have to travel far to find the voices of those who are disregarded, despised or oppressed. God himself speaks to us as we learn to listen carefully and prayerfully to their lives.
The above material is a summary of material posted on the Tearfund website in September 2023 under the title Hearing God's word and whisper for global justice