Eugene Peterson in an article in Relevant Magazine May-June issue.
Question.
'Weren't you helped by a missionary when you wanted some instruction on how to pray?"
Mr. Peterson's answer.
My parents were always hosting missionaries in our home, and one very prominent missionary was staying with us when I was a boy. I was struggling with the idea of "praying right," and I thought, If anyone would know how to pray, it would be this famous man. He was dozing in the hammock in [the] back of our house, and I simply asked him, "How do you pray?" Without even opening his eyes, he said, "Son, I haven't prayed in 40 years." This was very disconcerting! I was shocked! Here is this famous man of God, and he hasn't prayed for 40 years? I was afraid to tell my mother. I didn't want him lowered in her estimation.
Years later, when I was a pastor, I saw the wisdom in what he told me. I was looking for a "How do you do it? I was thinking that prayer was something you do in order to create a relationship with God. It's not.
(I enjoyed this story from his life.)
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