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Over the last two thousand years many people have offered their ideas as to what is authentic Christian Spirituality. At times these spiritualities have been at odds with each other and have led to division persecution and even death. Looking back at the experience of real people and their attempt to be in contact with a real God, it is easy to become very confused. There often seems to be such a diversity of experience that it would be very easy to say that anything goes and all is acceptable. However our own personal experience must show that this cannot be true. If it were then we would all have achieved success in our attempt to ascend to God. Yet we realise that we are on a journey that will not be complete during our mortal lives. In the light of history it would be foolish to declare other peoples spiritual ideas as foolish. However it is necessary that we should examine both our own thoughts and those of other peoples very carefully before making a decision as to the validity of their ideas.
So why prayer, why Saint Augustine and why the Internet?
Throughout the time of Christianity, each spirituality has had its own distinct ideas as to what is an important facet of getting in touch with God and what is a distraction. However most if not all of these spiritualities have in common the need of prayer in one form or another. Ulanov, in (Jones 1992:24) says
“Personal prayer exists right at the center of any spirituality. In it we search both individually and in groups, for deeper, more personal intercourse with God – moving into an even greater intensity, union, and communion that will radically alter the way we live our lives.”
As Ulanov goes on to say in personal prayer, the faith shows itself to be true, or else fails. It is here that we have the choice to accept and listen to God, or turn away with man made deaf ears. It is the very fact that we are made in the image of God that makes this possible, both the possibility of hearing God and the free choice of rejecting God.
Reading this may seem a little strange to some, as so far when talking about prayer I have only been referring to us listening to God. Prayer is ultimately a conversation with God. Both in dialogues with each other and with God we have a tendency to forget that listening is the more important part of the conversation. It is also true that when considering prayer as a conversation we are in danger of limiting it in human terms and restricting it to words alone.
Returning to Ulanov, (Jones 1992:24),
“Prayer makes use of all we know verbally and emotionally – our conscious secondary-process thinking – forming words and wishes sent in urgent pleas or in quiet meditations to our Lord. We speak in prayer from our most hidden heart to the hiddenness of God, in whose astonishing image we were fashioned and find our true faces.”
Living at the turn of the 21st century when so much human communication is electronic, my thoughts turn to communication with God. Is it possible that the medium of the Internet that controls so much of our (or at least certainly my) life can also be used as a communication tool with God?
With these thoughts in mind I realised that there was a vast amount of potential usage for the Internet as a means of communication, and therefore spirituality. There are many sites devoted to worship and study (the links page lists a few) and many web communities are offering email prayer chains. Once we understand the Internet as a tool for communication is easier to consider its authenticity as a spiritual tool. Although some people would not consider it a fair comparison, many web sites are of a similar nature to religious broadcasts on television, where the viewer (or in this case the surfer) is able to have some involvement with a service that they may not otherwise be able to participate in. So to ask the question of authenticity about these such sites would be similar to questioning religious broadcasting. However it was a newspaper story that brought my attention to the subject of spirituality on the Internet.
On Saturday 26th February 2000, The Express newspaper ran a story with the headline, “Nuns on the Net find a calling with cyber prayers”. The Benedictine order of Nuns in Tyburn convent, London, like many convents and Abbeys, had launched a web site on the Internet. Since then they have received thousands of requests from all over the world by email for prayer. The prayers are printed and put on a wall so that the sisters can read them as they go to pray. They say that they also receive emails telling of answered prayer. Although an almost impossible study to undertake, it would be interesting to know how many of the prayer requests resulted in the prayer being `answered`. Not only would it be difficult to collect such data, but also people’s different definitions of what answered prayer means would make this impossible to answer. The web site, which is interactive and not only includes a tour of the convent but also the history of the Tyburn Tree (where 50 000 people died during the Reformation), can be found on http://www.tyburnconvent.org.uk .
It is possible that some Christians would feel using the Internet was not an appropriate way of expressing spirituality. It is always right to consider such questions before embracing technology, however I suspect that similar reservations were expressed during the early years of the printing press.
Anglicans online (http://anglicansonline.org/resources/internet.html) has a number of interesting articles regarding the church’s use of the Internet. In particular Brian K. Reid The Church and the Internet http://justus.anglican.org/resources/tracts/nc/ [7th May 2000] comments on the use of technology,
“Historically there has never been an issue of useful technology not being adopted. If it is genuinely good and you don’t adopt it, your children or grand children will. The question for us, and the subject of this document, is whether or not we, the boundary generations, should adopt this new information technology or just wait for our children and grand children to do it.”
It is assumed that eventually the technology will be embraced either now or in the future, and that there is little question regarding the validity of doing so. Reid does however point out that the Internet is too young to be certain of its positive influence, but feels that the early results are good, and that the Internet will be an effective medium for spreading the Gospel. To be fair Reid`s article is on general church issues and the Internet and not specifically on intercessory prayer, so it should not be expected that his document contains specific answers regarding intercessory prayer.
However it is not only his perspective on the history of development of technology, and our changing attitudes that make this work interesting, but his insight into the social aspect of people using the Internet. It is in this area that perhaps there are considerations regarding intercessory prayer that will be of interest to us. In Social Issues http://justus.anglican.org/resources/tracts/nc/social.html [7th May 2000] he makes some interesting observations regarding how we can socially interact with one another on the Internet.
“Many people feel safer using written online messages than using the telephone or talking in person. From the earliest days of computers, psychological studies showed that people were usually more willing to type secrets into a computer than they were to tell somebody the same secrets. This is almost certainly an issue of safety or at least the feeling of safety. It is easy to hide, and you do not ever need to tell your correspondent where you live or what your real name is.”
The fact that people are less inhibited using electronic communication and more willing to share secrets is worth serious consideration. Different Christian denominations, and to some point churches within a denomination have a variety of viewpoints on private prayer, and prayer with other people. While some people consider that a prayer of confession needs only to be shared between God and the person doing the confession, other traditions consider the value of the confessor sharing their past with a priest or other person. Why is it that telling another person can be helpful in this process of forgiveness? Would it also be true to say that no matter how we may try not to do so there would always be some part of us that would hold back from telling another human being our innermost secrets? Being part of a tradition that normally only expects a person to confess to God, I do not feel that I am in a position to comment on how much we hold back our confession when telling it to a person that is personally know to us. It may well be however that we would be more likely to give a full confession anonymously over the Internet than we would to a priest behind a screen.
The same may also be true when considering intercessory prayer. In my own church there are a number of ways in which person may receive intercessory prayer. Clearly any person is always able to approach God directly, and hopefully the teaching of the church will mean that Christians realise that they are able to do this. However intercessory prayer is able to go much beyond this and it is in these areas that I wish to explore. There may be many reasons why praying both with and for other people can be effective. On a spiritual level we are told that when people are gathered together in prayer, in a special way God is also there. Why would this be so? Why would God listen to the prayers of a group of people more than He would any one individual? This is a mystery, which while being briefly touched upon is too vast an area to consider in this study.
Yet at the same time what value is there is sharing our needs with others? Returning to prayer in my own church, people seeking intercessory prayer could do so in a variety of ways. At the end of each service a group of lay people are available for members of the congregation to approach for prayer. There also exists, in a quiet part of the church, a prayer corner, where prayers can be written in a book, either anonymously, or otherwise. I have seen other churches where a similar system is used with a prayer tree. This is not just restricted to parish churches. The Wailing Wall in Jerusalem has many pilgrims’ prayers written on paper and placed in cracks in the wall. How does this remote system of intercessory prayer work? In many cases, as in intercessory prayer over the Internet someone somewhere is praying for the specific request. However this may not always be the case. It is true that when you are not making personal contact with the person you are requesting prayer from that you can be more honest about your request. Especially when there is no possibility that you could come into personal contact with the person praying for you. Is this what makes anonymous intercessory prayer authentic. Is it simply that we have the opportunity to be open to God and honest with ourselves? We have already seen that people feel safe sharing secrets on the Internet. When we tell another person our prayer need, are we in effect also praying that need to God? Is it important whether or not the prayer even prays the request to God? On another level does the person being prayed for need to know that they are being prayed for?
This brings us now to Augustine. Why would we use the confessions of St Augustine of Hippo, who lived in the fourth century, to investigate modern communication technology? Augustine is considered by many to be one of the greatest Christian writers since the time of the New Testament writers. A brief summary of St Augustine can be found in Lane (1986), where he is described as the “Father of the Western Church” (Lane 1986:40). Is this over estimating Augustine’s contribution to the beliefs and structure of the Christian Church? I do not think that it is. Over the centuries much of his work has been used again and again in the formation of Christianity as we know it today. Interestingly, Augustine’s work influenced both the Reformation and the Catholic Counter-reformation. Not only that, but the Reformation itself could be described as a reaction to the Church that had developed under the influence of Augustine.
Although they may have other great names associated with them, Augustine has influenced many of the ideas of Christian spirituality over the last 1600 years. The very nature of Augustine’s life and conversion make him suitable material for dealing with difficult issues. Augustine is considered by many to be the greatest Christian theologian since the apostle Paul, but can he help us in our own spiritual journey? Can he help us discover a true ascent to God? Augustine does not offer any formula for doing so. What he does offer is of even greater value. His story is one of a human life, and his own personal search for God. He tells us his story. He makes no attempt to hide the difficulties and struggles, but counts them as an essential part of the journey. If we are to search for answers, and if we are to consider theologians outside of the biblical canon, then Augustine is the perfect starting place. His story is one of a real person, encountering real difficulties and facing up to real solutions.
To read into Augustine’s life, and search for truth is worth the effort involved. I will not go into his life in great detail here, as there is much information about him on the web. One particularly good site is http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jod/augustine.html
Lane, (Lane 1986:41), sums up the suitability of Augustine and his Confessions
“Augustine’s influence has been equally great in theology and in spirituality. His contribution to Christian thought was remarkably wide-ranging. But his “Confessions” have spoken to peoples hearts ever since he wrote his account of his spiritual journey”.
Suffice to say he spent much of his life trying to avoid Christianity, and working as a philosophical lecturer. During this time his mother, Monica constantly prayed for his conversion. Did Augustine know Monica was praying for him? Was it necessary for him to know she was praying for his conversion?
The question has to be considered, is there any purpose in intercessory prayer? What exactly are we attempting to do? Is it that we are attempting to change the mind or will of God? There are clear examples of this happening in the Bible. We even read of Abraham apparently bartering with God, in an attempt to save the city of Sodom. Is this an appropriate way to speak to God? Is it even necessary?
Matthew 6:8 says “…for your Father knows what you needs before you ask him”.
Why then do we need to ask at all?
The opening paragraph of book eleven of Augustine’s confessions start by Augustine asking the same questions. Is God unaware of the things I tell him? If God sees everything, why do I bother to pray at all? Here we have the two opposing extremes. It is possible that God sees and hears nothing. If this is the case then whatever I do in trying to contact God is worthless. Is it so impossible to believe that God maybe unable to see or hear all? Or perhaps He possesses this ability but chooses not to use it! If we consider God to be omnipotent then we must concede that He also has the ability to choose not to look and listen. We have to consider the idea that God would not hear or see because He is outside time (and space). What exactly do we mean by this? The concept of time is difficult. To not believe that certain things exist separate from time is difficult. If we believe that time has always existed then we have a big problem. To say time has always happened, means that there is no beginning, and presumably also no end, to existence. While there are numerous theories concerning how the universe began to physically exist, we encounter a problem as soon as we use the same ideas concerning time. To say that the physical universe has always existed, even scientifically is impossible. Even looking at scientific theories of the formation of the universe, we can accept that the universe as we know it has developed from one form to another. Whenever an explanation regarding the formation of the universe is given, there still remains the question, “but what happened before that?” It may be considered an easy way of avoiding the question, but we eventually end up conceding that there must be something that exists, before time began. What existed in this time before time? The only certainty is that God existed in this time. For God not to exist at this time would mean that He himself had to be created. If God is a created being then He is no longer fits the definition that we have so far been using for God. God would not be God. God must be able to exist, independently of time.
Why would this make him unable to hear and see all that goes on in the world? This question, as well as being incredibly difficult, needs no answer. If it were true that God did not see all that was happening in the world, then He would neither intervene in the events of the world, nor show His presence. Yet we know that this is not the case. If God had no involvement or interest in the world, then there would have been no need for the incarnation of Jesus. If He did not see what was happening, there would have been no need to send a “Savior” into the world. Although the experience varies from Christian to Christian, and changes throughout a person’s life, there is the fact that humans experience God’s presence personally. The fact is that God did further involve himself in the world through Jesus, and Christians do have experience of God. Therefore God must see and hear what is happening in the world.
We therefore have to consider Augustine’s second possibility. That if God knows everything, why do we bother to tell Him what is already knows we will ask? It would seem logical that God, being omnipotent, would always know what we were about to ask for. Not only that but that he knows our needs even before we know ourselves, and even knows about our needs that we do not realise we have. It would seem pointless for us to have to tell God something that He already knows.
The first paragraph of book eleven of the Confessions, (Augustine 1961:253), says
“When we pray we ask for what we need, yet the Truth himself has told us: Your heavenly Father knows well what your needs are before you ask him (Matt 6:8). So by confessing our own miserable state and acknowledging your mercy towards us we open our hearts to you, so that you may free us wholly, as you have already begun to do. Then we shall no longer be miserable in ourselves, but will find true happiness in you. For you have called us to be poor in spirit, to be patient and to mourn, to hunger and thirst for holiness, to be merciful and clean of heart, and to be peace makers”.
Praying to God, confessionary and intercessory prayers are not because God needs us to do so. It is because doing so changes us. Even when we are engaged in intercessory prayer, we are at the same time taking part in confession. The two are very closely linked. We acknowledge that intercessory prayer would not be necessary if it were not for sin and the need of confession and forgiveness. The confession of sin is not necessarily of the individual being prayed for. It may be that their suffering is a result of another’s sin, or of the sinful nature of human kind. The subject of suffering is too great to be investigated further in this study, however I think that we can see that one persons wrongdoing can create a need for intercessory prayer for another person.
Nēdoncelle, (Wakefield 1983:309), describes intercession as
“Intercession is therefore first an act and way of life in which the intercessor in solidarity with Christ through baptism and a life of faith enters Jesus` life of reconciliation”.
There is indeed a great deal to be gained by being an intercessor. Although we may consider that it is for others that we are praying, by doing so we are entering into a deeper relationship with God. The call as Christians to be imitators of Christ can be manifested in our desire to be an intercessor. In the words of Augustine, when we intercede, we open our hearts to God, and allow him to set us free. What is it that he is setting us free from? From our own “miserable state”, as created by our sinful nature. Much is to be gained by being an intercessor, but what about the person requesting prayer?
Nēdoncelle goes on to say (Wakefield 1983:310) that
“Intercession is work for others. It is an act of faith in God, his caring, His goodness. It is involved with the mystery of God and the freedom of man. We intercede for others because of what we believe about God as loving father, who works directly, but also through men and women, using their cooperation. Intercession depends on the life of faith, not on words. We intercede with our whole being, opening a door for God, becoming channels, bringing people to God as Aaron did (Ex 28.29)”.
Intercession has great value for the intercessor, but great hope for the receiver of the intercession. It does not even necessarily depend on the words that are used, but upon the openness of the heart to God. God does know what is on our hearts; it is the opening up of these hearts that is vital, not the words that come out of the mouth. Augustine does not deny the ability of God to perform direct action, however he does suggest that when hearts are open to God, then He is able to act through people. The true intercessor is not only a person who reflects and prays to God, but a person who seeks to do Gods will. It is not necessary that the receiver will get anything from the intercessor, other than prayer. In the case of distant communication, or as in the case of the Tyburn Nuns in a closed order, this would be highly unlikely. However the intercessors openness to God’s will should make that person able to do God’s work in other areas of life.
Throughout Augustine’s life his mother, Monica had prayed for his conversion. Part of this time Augustine had been a Manichee. Augustine seems a little surprised at Monica’s reaction when she discovers that he is no longer a Manichee. Although he has still not converted to Christianity, he feels that he has been failed by the promises of the Manchee. Augustine expects that Monica will be pleased, instead he says (Augustine 1961:111)
“I told her that I was not a Catholic Christian, but at least I was no longer a Manichee. Yet she did not leap for joy as though this news were unexpected”.
Monica although desperate to see Augustine a Christian, knew that the time for her joy was not yet. Monica’s love for Augustine was so deep that at times instead of praying for his conversion, she prayed that she could be near to him or stay with him. On one occasion in an attempt to escape her Augustine tricked Monica and sailed away to Rome. Although saddened by this, it reminded Monica of what it really was she desired. Book five records the incident (Augustine 1961:101)
“But you did not do as she asked you then. Instead, in the depth of your wisdom, you granted the wish that was closest to her heart. You did with me what she had always asked you to do”.
Sometimes our words and earthly desires fail us. We are fortunate that God can read our hearts. At the time it may seem strange, but we are fortunate that the answer to some of our prayers is no. Augustine going to Rome was an important part of his life journey that eventually led to his conversion. Despite Monica thinking that what she really wanted was to be with Augustine, there was a much more that needed prayer for. There is no doubt that Monica spent a lot of time in prayer, asking for Augustine’s conversion. Although it took a long time for the conversion to take place, I believe that Monica knew eventually her prayer would be answered. In book six Augustine says (Augustine 1961:111)
“For in her prayers to you she wept as though I were dead, but she also knew that you would recall me to life”.
God had spoken to Monica, and she knew what the final result would be. But human inpatients made it difficult to wait.
The story of Monica and Augustine gives us a good example of distant intercessory prayer. It is impossible to say that the reason Augustine was converted was because Monica was praying for him. It is impossible to know whether the prayer would have been more effective had Augustine known at the time how much Monica was praying, or if the two of them had not always had such a great distance between them.
Does this mean that God will answer all intercessory prayer? The answer to this is yes. The real question has to be are we truly ready to accept the answer, especially if the answer happens to be “no”.
It is easy to believe that the more sophisticated we become as a human race, the less we seem to need God. It would appear that the more advanced a society is, the fewer people express a belief in God. Why then is there a growing interest in spirituality among the cyber community? Performing a word search from a search engine will produce hundreds of thousands of results, from Christianity to paganism via a whole multitude of other spiritualities.
Such an abundance of web sites would only exist if there were a need for it. The ability to email an anonymous person requesting their prayers exists because, no matter how sophisticated we consider ourselves to be, deep down we realise we have this need. It is interesting to note the language used on the Internet. Groups of people with a common interest are referred to as communities. These communities will in all likelihood never see one another face to face. But the communication taking place between people in these communities is often more extensive than communication in the real world. Is this faceless society really what the future has in store for us?
The question posed asked whether it was valid to use the Internet for intercessory prayer. In effect there is little difference between using the Internet and using some other form of communication. It may be that the anonymity of using the internet will in actual fact make the person requesting prayer more open and honest.
The relationship between Augustine and Monica is an example of how intercessory prayer can work, and that it can work from a distance. Did Augustine know that Monica was praying for him? I don’t know. But despite lapses into human desires, there was no doubt in Monica’s mind that one day her prayers would be answered.
Augustine shows us that it is the openness of our hearts and souls that allows God to work through us and in us. The greater the openness the more God can work. If using the internet can lead to greater openness, then I believe that yes we can consider prayer over the internet to be authentic.
Are there any dangers in doing this? The answer is yes, but there are always dangers involved with what ever we do. It is essential that the person requesting prayer realises that they are in effect praying to God, and that the person receiving the email is only an intercessor. Although the anonymity of the Internet may lead to greater openness with ourselves and with God, it may also lead to a lack action on our part. It could be very easy to write our email, click the send button, and then forget all about it. Although forgetting about a concern we have given to God is the correct thing to do, I am concerned that we are in danger of removing the personal element of our relationship with God from the equation.