Harper suggests that instead of reading written prayers by ourselves or others, we should pray them. This causes us to reflect on the words, absorb them, and lift them to God as expressions of our own heart.

No matter how much I pray, I realize there is so much more to prayer than I am experiencing. Paul said we must pray without ceasing. I understand that our constant thoughts and expectations are a part of our prayers. And I know that I waste a lot of time and opportunities. Fears and doubts enter my wandering, mind looking for a place to stay and grow. Other times my prayer list gets long and I just sort of glaze over it.

I have returned to Steve Harper’s book, Devotional Life in the Wesleyan Tradition (Upper Room Books). Chapter Two deals with prayer. I underlined a lot of things I wanted to remember. I’ll list them here for you, in case you need help with your prayer life too.

Harper begins by pointing out that John Wesley’s emphasis was on a “devotional life” rather than on a “devotional time” (p.18).

Often we designate the early morning hours to our time of devotion. John Wesley started his day that way, beginning with private prayer. For over 50 years, Harper tells us, Wesley got up around 4:30 in the morning to direct his first thoughts to God in order to “create a divine consciousness that would remain with him throughout the day” (p. 20). He was methodical, adhering to a weekly pattern and a daily topic. He built in extemporaneous prayers throughout the day. “He trained his mind to pray on the hour” (p. 21). These were “brief, sentence prayers of praise” (p. 21) uttered inwardly. Then he spent the next 5-7 minutes in meditation.

Wesley prayed privately at the end of the day, reviewing the day, asking forgiveness for sins committed, and deciding ways in which to amend his life.

Some of his prayers, particularly in the morning and in the evening, were prayers he wrote down. “The written prayers provided a focus for his praying and the extemporaneous prayers left room for spontaneity” (p. 20). Written prayers help keep the mind from wandering. Harper suggests that, instead of reading written prayers by ourselves or others, we should pray them. This allows us to reflect on the words, absorb them, and lift them to God as expressions of our own heart.

Wesley read prayers and other texts by writers of the classics as well as writers of his day. He gained insight from them and often shared these prayers with others. But, in addition to pri-vate prayer, he strongly believed in corporate prayer: “Private prayer alone is not sufficient for a healthy spiritual life, so he consciously looked for ways to pray with others” (p. 23). As a faithful member of the Church of England, he prayed from the Book of Common Prayer. He joined others in services of prayer in a church or cathedral, reminding himself of the church as a community of faith and prayer as the focal point for living.”

Wesley varied the form of his prayers, praying from the writings of others, as well as using the Book of Common Prayer. He prayed aloud and he prayed inwardly. He sometimes combined verbal prayer and hymn singing. “But Wesley also knew the value of silence” (p. 25). His prayers included praise, confession, thanksgiving, inter-cession, and his own petitions. He expressed joy, sorrow, compassion, concern, and trust. He expressed his doubts, questions and cries of anguish to God.

Like most of us, sometimes he had trouble praying. But he prayed anyway. Harper concludes this chapter by saying, “Wesley would not want us to examine his prayer life as an end in itself. He never put his spirituality on display. . . . The only reason for looking at Wesley’s prayer example is that we will ‘go and do likewise’” (p. 26).

No, I would not want to try to imitate Wesley’s prayer life, but this chapter has made me examine my own. There are endless opportunities to pray. I have found one in the spa when I go to exercise. There are large colorful shapes on the wall—circles, tri-angles, and squares. In my mind, I put a person from my list on each of the shapes and instead of listening to a music tape, I pray for each of those persons while I walk on the treadmill. Time goes fast and the time is well spent. When I walk in my neighborhood, I look at each house as I walk by and pray for the peo-ple in that house. I know that God knows them even if I don’t and my prayer for them will be answered in God’s way. In traffic, I can pray for people passing me by. It’s a way of talking with God and a way of keeping my mind off negative things.

The book Devotional Life in the Wesleyan Tradition by Steve Harper includes chapters on scripture, the Lord’s Supper, fasting, Christian Conferencing— all areas of the instituted Means of Grace, i.e., those disciplines evident in the life of Jesus Christ. The final chapter is on the prudential means of grace—those disciplines which have been developed by the church to give further order and expression to the Christian life.

What are you doing to improve your prayer life? How can Wesley’s practices encourage your own. Let us hear from you.

Excerpts from Devotional Life in the Wesleyan Tradition by Steve Harper (Nashville: The Upper Room, 1983), pp. 18-26, used by permission of The Upper Room.