The act of prayer can be as simple as asking for help in a dangerous situation, or it can involve a deep emotional and physical experience that extends the one who is praying beyond the self and into the arena of care for God and others. Evelyn Underhill, a British scholar and devotional writer during the 20th century, understood that the act of prayer employed three faculties: thinking, feeling and willing or acting. In her book "The Essentials of Mysticism," Underhill writes that this process is common in the "natural life" and must also be used in the spiritual life as well.
From upraised consciousness to an act of the will
"When we do anything consciously, the transition from inaction to action unfolds itself in a certain order. First we form a concept of that which we shall do; the idea of it looms up in our minds. Second, we feel that we want to do it, or must do it. Third, we determine the will do it," she wrote.
This process can be likened to awakening from sleep, especially for those who do not love the morning. First the eyes open and the person looks around the room. As soon as conscious thought is possible, the person thinks, "It's morning." Once this thought occurs, the person can either roll over and burrow further under the covers, or, if he or she remembers what responsibilities lie ahead and begins to feel the necessity, thoughts such as "I need to get up," "I'll be late for work," or "So and So is coming over in an hour," bubble to the surface and lead to the enactment of the will, which causes the person to rise from the bed in order to start the day.
So it is with prayer. This great spiritual effort, which Underhill describes as "that part of our conscious life which is deliberately oriented towards, and exclusively responds to, spiritual reality (or God)," is often started by a thought. For instance, when the recent earthquake struck the nation of Japan, peoples' minds were awakened to the reality of suffering. This reality led to thoughts about what the people needed - such as protection, water, shelter, food, stability at their nuclear plants - and this led to prayer. Prayer leads people away from ordinary interests to "that 'Eternal truth, true Love, and loved Eternity' wherein the world is felt to be enshrined," Underhill writes. In other words, it is through prayer that a person exercises his or her belief that the world is in the care of a loving God who acts when people pray.
Between two worlds
Underhill says that those who participate in prayer with God are both citizens of eternity and of time. "Like a pendulum, our consciousness moves perpetually - or should move if it is healthy - between God and our neighbor, between this world and that," she says. What Underhill means is that communication with God leads to participation in physical life with one's neighbors. According to Jesus in Luke 10: 25 - 37, a neighbor can be anyone, including family, friends, next-door neighbors, store clerks, waitresses and people thousands of miles across the globe.
Communion with Reality
"Prayer should take up and turn towards the spiritual order all the powers of our mental, emotional and volitional life. Prayers should be the highest exercise of these powers; for here they are directed to the only adequate object of thought, of love, and of desire. It should, as it were, lift us to the top of our condition, and represent the fullest flowering of our consciousness. For here we breathe the air of the supernatural order, and attain according to our measure that communion with Reality for which we were made," Underhill wrote.
God is the definition of reality for the Christian. God as reality means that we want to do what God commands and that God's ways are the highest form of living. "In him we live and move and have our being," the apostle Paul told the Athenians in Acts 17. It is through prayer and communion with God that believers gain strength to live the Christian life and where they also find out whether or not they have strayed from the path.
A Balancing Act
Prayer involves a balancing act between the three faculties. Without intellect the mind could not adjust to prayer "by thinking of God earnestly and humbly to the exclusion of other objects of thoughts," Underhill writes. Without feeling, one would not be moved to prayer because without inner desire the will would not be spurred to action. However, Underhill recognizes that sometimes feelings are "flat" because they, along with the intellect, "are not wholly in our control."
"Sometimes we are mentally dull, sometimes we are emotionally flat ... the reigning will remains. Even when our heart is cold and our mind is dim, prayer is still possible to us," Underhill writes. "Our wills are ours, to make them Thine. The determined fixing of our will upon God, and pressing toward him steadily and without deflection; this is the very center and the art of prayer." Thus, the three must be balanced. If one gives in fully to intellectual prayer, the act will be dry and detached. If one gives in fully to feeling, the life of prayer may tend toward unreasonableness and will be oft times nonexistent because of the dependence on emotion to pray. The will is what saves the life of prayer and allows a person to pray regularly. The three aspects working together in a balanced manner cause prayer to become vital and vibrant.
Reaching the Goal
"The determined fixing of our will upon God," Underhill writes, "and pressing toward him steadily and without deflection; this is the very center and the art of prayer." The active words, determined and pressing, in this sentence are key to understanding the art of prayer. For without determination and a pressing drive to get to know God, prayer will be nonexistent. According to Underhill, prayer is hard work and only the determined will succeed. "The most theological of thoughts soon become inadequate; the most spiritual of emotions is only a fairweather breeze. Let the ship take advantage of it by all means, but not rely on it. She must be prepared to beat to windward if she would reach her goal," she wrote.
Source:
Foster, Richard J. and James Bryan Smith, "Devotional Classics: Selected Readings for Individuals and Groups" (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1993), pages 73 - 79
