Do You Still Pray?

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What happens to prayer after you rethink religion and spirituality? Does it feel empty, confusing, or even impossible? If so, you're not alone.

In this episode, the three of us discuss our journeys from structured, wordy, and sometimes demonstrative prayer lives to something altogether different. Randy reflects on his charismatic past where intercessory prayer dominated his spiritual practice, Kyle raises philosophical questions about whether prayer "works" in a traditional sense and shares his current discomfort with it, and Elliot shares what about prayer still seems to fit—and what doesn't—through the experience of deconstruction.

We wrestle with the extent to which we should think of prayer as affecting the world, God, or ourselves. We visit the thoughts of some influential thinkers on prayer. And we question the transactional and manipulative views of our old traditions while trying to remain generous with our past selves.

What do we make of Jesus's promises about prayer's power alongside his own unanswered prayer in Gethsemane? What about contemplative alternatives to petitionary prayer, and are they really different from meditation? Can we name the grief that comes with losing certain prayer practices while also discovering new, more life-giving ones?

Wherever you are on prayer these days, we hope this conversation offers companionship for the journey and permission to find your own path forward. Prayer may not be what it once was, and that's okay.

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