Prayer as a Key Tool for Reflection and Application
By Rod Dreher
Rawlings School of Divinity
CLED 720: Biblical & Theological Foundations of Education
Genevieve Hamer
July 18, 2022
Prayer as a Key Tool for Reflection and Application
When supported by prayer, the complementary results of reflection and application lead to
more significant learning.27 In Spiritual Theology, Simon Chan writes that “prayer is the first act
that links doctrine to practice” (1998, 126). Prayer applies theology to the actual world of the
learner. Therefore, prayer has the potential to become a central element in theological
education, and especially in spiritual formation.
The importance of individual prayer as a distinct, active, and powerful learning tool cannot
be underestimated. Prayer is perhaps the essential ingredient for Christian spiritual formation.
Even the other essential elements, such as worship and Scripture reading, are often supported
and enhanced by prayer. Theological education should utilize prayer more intentionally, as it is
rich in its silence, is purposeful with words, enhances meditation of biblical passages and
theological insights, provides space for reflection on life’s events and encounters, and makes
room for the learner to commit herself to act differently in the future – all while seeking divine
council in individual worship. Prayer, as an intentional and habitual activity, requires repetition
and time. Christ compared the Kingdom of God to a slow-growing tree, which takes time to
grow and to develop its full glory (Mt. 13:31). Intentional prayer has the potential to be an
important act of reflection, as well as a tool for application in formational learning.
Therefore, the question that underlines this article is: how might prayer support, enhance,
and deepen reflection and application in theological education? Prayer is often included as a
component in the keeping of a reflective journal, but could it also serve as a learning activity in
itself, whereby learners seek the Holy Spirit’s counsel on classroom learning content?
Prayer offers a rich and beneficial context for reflection and application in theological
education. In prayer, reflection is done in the very presence of God, or more specifically in the
presence of the holy and resurrected Christ (1 Pet. 3:15). Prayer is a purposeful encounter with
the Divine, the ultimate source of knowledge and insight. It is done with the assumption that
learners will pay close attention to the divine voice speaking into their lives. The holiness of
Christ is, therefore, both an unmasking reality, as well as a reassuring comfort spurring spiritual
formation, and growth into the high moral and behavioral ethics of the kingdom of God.28 The
holy presence of Christ means that the worshiper’s true self (without deception, masking, and
self-justification) engages with the transcendent holy God himself. The holiness of Jesus also
acts as a countermeasure to sin and unbalanced selflove, while continuously offering
meaningful restoration after failure through forgiveness. At the same time, Christ’s nearness is
a comforting reality as the acceptance of the worshiper into the very presence of the Divine is
due to the sacrificial love of Christ himself.
In order for prayer to be an effective tool for formational learning, it should intentionally
provide space for reflection in the following areas: reflection on God; reflection on self, and
reflection on neighbor. The threefold division follows the Greatest Commandment to first love
God, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself (Mk .12:30-31, Lk. 10:27).29
Reflection on God
Reflection on God is not limited to the human capacity to detect patterns of divine
behavior in the life of the people of God. Rather, it is done in partnership with the Holy Spirit in
order to progress in understanding the mysteries of the life of faith. Too much of the Church’s
reflection does not progress from reflection on God’s being to reflection on how this impacts
the life of faith. Reflection on God is fundamentally a reflection on God’s self-revelation in
Scripture. God’s self-revelation is discovered not in abstract philosophical terms, but rather in a
developing and maturing relationship with the people of God through recorded history. The
highest divine self-revelation is the giving of Godself in the person of Jesus Christ for the
restoration of humanity into the image of God. Reflection on God is reflection on his moral self-
revelation, his nature, and our nature in the process of being liberated to reflect God’s
character – with his concerns absorbed as our concerns, and his action and our action aligning
as a result of God’s action.
Reflection on Self
Reflection on self participates in the restoration of humanity into the full display of the
image of God. It is not simply a new term for self-help. Sin and self-deception unfortunately
undermine and distort the image of God in humanity. Reflection on self is the reflective tool
that allows for the restoration of the image of God in the individual. Reflection on self should
not lead to self-rejection, for the Great Commandant makes it clear that it is the self’s
experience of the Divine that flows into the self’s kindness toward the neighbor. We ought to
ask: are my actions, speech, emotions, and behaviors consistent with the whole counsel of
God’s word? Reflection on self is reflection on the patterns of life: patterns of sin, patterns of
emotions, patterns of motives, patterns of behavior, patterns of actions and thoughts (both the
ones done, as well as the ones left undone), and patterns of likes and dislikes. Current behavior
is often the result of past experiences and of one’s unique character.
One must also recognize that one’s greatest strengths often relate to one’s greatest
weaknesses. Reflection on self should be done with the recognition that humanity has an
intrinsic preference for self-deception,30 as well as for elevating individually preferred Scriptural
truth to universal applicability, in negligence of the whole counsel of God’s word. The self is
fundamentally self-justifying in the sense that it easily recognizes others’ faults while remaining
oblivious to the self’s own faults (cf. Lk. 6:41-42, Mt. 7:3-5). This intrinsic tendency needs to be
recognized, addressed, and corrected; otherwise, as Jesus said, one’s spirituality will remain
hypocritical. The corrective is a reflective application of the Golden Rule: “Do to others as you
would have them do to you” (Lk. 6:31, Mk. 7:12). One ought to consider: “I see a fault in my
neighbor, but don’t I act just like him/her in similar situations?” It is not surprising that the
Golden Rule is found in both Luke and Matthew in the scene where Jesus narrates the bizarre
story of the individual who seeks to help remove a tiny fault (a speck of sawdust), while being
blinded by a huge plank.
Finally, reflection on self makes space for acknowledging faults or sins so we can
subsequently seek forgiveness and restoration through Christ. When necessary, this is followed
by seeking restoration of a damaged relationship with a neighbor (Mt. 5:23-24). It may also lead
to future action and/or to modified behavior in a similar situation (covenanting).
Reflection on Neighbors
Reflection on neighbors aims to build up the restorative community of God’s people with
communal concerns for a shared wellbeing. It also directs specific actions to the restoration of
the image of God in the neighbor. Such actions are specific and intentional because concern for
the neighbor can never be passive or accidental. One begins by considering who might be one’s
neighbor at any given time (Lk. 10:36). A neighbor may be those closest to oneself (spouse,
children, and family members), those unknown to the self, and everyone in between. Reflection
on neighbor questions the self’s actions, speech, emotions, and behaviors toward the neighbor.
Reflection on neighbour also spurs commitment to future actions that will benefit the neighbor.
Reflection leads to action, whereby a theoretical concern for the neighbor finds its practical
application.
Prayer as Activity
Prayer has the potential to be a powerful reflective tool for formational learning in spiritual
formation. Like reflective writing, prayer can provide reflective space for participatory reflection
about one’s own life lived before the Divine. It gives space for participatory learning, whereby
the learner fully and actively participates in achieving his/her own internal formation. The
meaningful encounter with the Divine opens up a safe environment for encountering and
questioning formative experiences, renews the image of God in mankind, and leads to
forgiveness and new future commitments.
Prayer as a reflective learning activity could serve as theological engagement with a topic.
The learning task could be: “reflect and pray in light of God’s presence (his light that exposes
everything hidden and his available forgiveness) on improving a (troubled) relationship.” This
example focuses on repairing relationships, but it could also focus on God’s forgiveness, God’s
covenant, God’s concern for the poor, etc. Initially, learners should be provided with detailed
questions guiding reflection on the three foci (God, self, and neighbor) and listening to the Holy
Spirit:
Upward focus on God: What am I learning from God’s revelation about relationships and
especially my relationship to God? What does God say about the importance of relationships?
Inward focus on self: What is causing the problem? How can I improve the relationship?
Is there a need to seek forgiveness from God or from the other person? Do I need to recommit
myself to the relationship that God has placed me in?
Outward focus on neighbor: What does God say about the other? How can I bless the
other?
Conslusion
Learning approaches surveyed in general education literature, in Christian education
literature, and in spiritual formation all recognize reflection as a key element for internalizing
learning. Reflection is used in all the surveyed approaches to arrive at deep or formative
learning. This is especially significant for spiritual formation, which shares a deep commitment
to formative learning. Reflection is not the end of the process, but rather a tool for internalizing
learning. Cognitive knowledge is not the automatic magic bullet for faith formation. Rather, it
needs to be utilized or applied in order to be internalized. As Graham states, “The more a value
or attitude is internalized, the more it affects behaviour” (2003, 59). It is not surprising then
that within spiritual formation, reflection and application are used to promote (gradual)
spiritual growth in the journey toward God. Spiritual formation is never accomplished; it is
always a process of human life aligning itself with the Godhead, using new experiences and
encounters to restore the image of God in oneself. Lamoureux warns that reflection is
countercultural in our age of the immediate available information (1999, 153). Therefore,
reflective skills need to be developed, time for reflection integrated into the educational
process, and learning applied contextually.
What is now needed in theological education (TEE and residential or distance education) is
recognition of the importance of theological reflection as a tool for formation, for bridging the
theory-practice gap, and for deep learning. Prayer is key to helping learners bridge the gap
between theory and practice, and between their studies and their spiritual formation. Prayer
places the process of reflection within active communication with God, allowing for deeper
understanding, listening to God’s voice, and commitment to action.
The goals of theological education require time and are best achieved through
participatory learning. Learners need clear guidance (based on best practices) on how to reflect.
They need the opportunity to practice reflection, to talk about their reflections, and to share
their reflections with others in order to become Christian reflective practitioners. Theological
schools will need to incorporate reflection as a key part of assessment in all subjects in order to
create Christian reflective practitioners. More importantly, students need to be given time to
reflect (this is perhaps easier to achieve in TEE, as the learners live in their original communities
while engaging in theological learning). Once students engage in reflection, they will also need
space for sharing their reflections. It is my hope that instead of adding a module or a course to
the (most likely already overloaded) curriculum, reflection could instead serve as a core
learning activity to increase the impact of existing courses.
In conclusion, reflection and application are vital tools for aiding formative learning, and
especially spiritual formation. A brief survey like this one can only skim the surface of best
practices for reflection, and especially theological reflection. A lot of refined contemporary
thinking is available to practitioners to help them better utilize these tools, and avoid un-
theorized or under-theorized uses of reflection and application. As a unique form of reflection,
greatly facilitates Christian formation.
Footnotes
1 For a discussion linking formation in the field of theology to affective learning, see Graham,
‘‘Instructional Design for Affective Learning in Theological Education.”
2 Similarly, Farrah, in her assessment of lecturing as a method for adult education, concludes
that lecturing is a well-suited method if the aim is cognitive or information transfer, but that a
“lecture is not the best approach…to modify attitudes” (Lecture, 228).
3 For a discussion on the educational theory behind transformational learning, see Young,
“Trans- formational Learning in ministry.”
4 There are significant Christian traditions that tried to overcome the assumption of guaranteed
maturation as evident in some forms of monasticism, Methodism, and others.
5 It is significant that the ATS (Association of Theological Schools) in the USA has adopted five
key program standards for the MDiv, one involving theological reflection on ministry: “The
program shall provide theological reflection on and education for the practice of ministry.
These activities should cultivate the capacity for leadership in both ecclesial and public
contexts” (ATS 2015).
6 Similarly, Paul’s statement that “faith comes from hearing” (Rom 10:17) may also be used, as
is often the case in preaching literature, to limit Christian proclamation and witness to the
pulpit. Although Paul makes the point that faith is a response to hearing the Gospel, he does
not say that faith comes through pulpit preaching.
7 I am not denying that instant cognitive and behavioral transformation of individuals takes
place, like on the Damascus Road, but I am questioning whether it should be seen as the
primary forma- tive approach available for spiritual formation.
8 It is interesting that kingship does not play a significant role in the Pentateuch and in the setup
of the covenant community which the exception of these few verses.
9 Other ingredients, like community and the participation in a learning community are other
important element often utilised in theological education for transformative learning and are
exemplified in the New Testament (Acts 13:1-3).
10 Moon suggests that “a common sense definition of reflection” is preferable; otherwise, the
concept will bring confusion to listeners. See Moon, Reflection, 1.
11 Ministerial theological reflection might need a slightly different definition as its aim is
different. This essay is limited in its scope and therefore cannot satisfactorily address all the
different biblical terminology that could further inform a theological understanding of
reflection. How is reflection different from “meditation,” “critical thinking,” or “thinking things
over”? Is not “praying over an issue” or “seeking the council of the Holy Spirit” similar to
reflecting on life or oneself in partnership with the divine? Is it possible that reflection and
application are so intrinsically linked that they cannot be separated, especially in spiritual
formation? Taylor and White insist that reflection is “primarily confined to the application of
‘theory to practice,’” thereby making the point that reflection and application are an intrinsic
unit (see Taylor and White, Practising Reflexivity in Health and Welfare, 198).
