An Invitation to "An Adventure in Prayer"

By Jeanne Paynter

"If you accept this challenge to engage in this transforming possibility, I don't believe you will ever regret it. The results of your experiment will add meaning to your life... you will be living not merely existing... it changed my life."
-Ben Johnson

I've heard the expression that "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." This is good advice for those of us who have fallen prey to the snake-oil claims of late-night infomercials. But if we respond in the same jaded way to Ben Johnson's challenge to An Adventure in Prayer, we might miss an adventure with God.

If you have ever thought that "an adventure in prayer" is an oxymoron, you must pick up a copy of this little book. I was hooked by the very first line: "I invite you to engage in an experiment for the next 30 days... you may become aware of God at a depth you have never known before." Johnson proceeds to recount how his own spiritual dryness drove him to try a 30-day experiment using a simple pattern of prayer that changed the way he looked at God, himself, and others. The ordinary circumstances of each day, seen through the eyes of faith, manifested answers to prayer that otherwise would have been missed.

What intrigued me about this challenge to an adventure in prayer was its "no-risk, free-trial" tone. Johnson writes, "Before you make your final decision about doing the experiment, read through the entire booklet--then come back here and begin your daily prayer time." First, I will need to learn about this God to whom I will pray, the God I think I know, but may not.

Do you know that when we turn to God, it is only because he is continually seeking us? Every hunger, yearning, and desire we feel is a response to his initiation. My life is an open book to him, yet, "God accepts us in spite of our unacceptability to ourselves. Words can capture neither the intensity nor the relentlessness of the divine love for us." God invites us to join him in fulfilling his will and purpose for the world. If I accept his invitation, he will use my life right now, as I am, in unique ways I can not comprehend or predict.

Of course, I accepted the challenge to the 30-day prayer experiment. Each morning I followed the prayer pattern that led me through a process of getting still, reading the daily Bible verse, focusing on God's greatness, and thanking him for his blessings toward me. I offered my life to God for service each day, and envisioned him guiding me in each task, planned and unscheduled.

The most meaningful step for me was the time for intercession: "If our imagination could grasp the effect of prayer on others, we would pray more often and with more assurance." I prayed for the same people each of the 30 days, practicing the suggested "four ways to pray." Strangely, I found that my own petitions became one with my prayers of intercession. God gives us the desires of our heart.

After 30 days, my Adventure in Prayer booklet is wrinkled and coffee-stained. But, has my life been transformed? The test: "The new life that flows from your intimacy with God will seek to communicate itself to others." And so I ask, will you join me on an adventure in prayer?