Includes Study Guide This little book invites us to study with some ancient experts in prayer, the persons who wrote the Book of Psalms. We haven’t read long in the psalms before we realize that the authors, like us, were altogether human, their lives marked by breathtaking highs and lows. But with all of that, they were saints who left us with the greatest collection of prayers in the possession of our human race. What was their secret? I believe it was the quality of their friendship with God. And of course the language of that friendship is prayer. The psalmists don’t give us any formula for effective praying. They don’t offer a set of rules. But if we read their prayers carefully, we will learn something of their secret, the secret of the Ultimate Friendship. -adapted from the Foreword J. Ellsworth Kalas (1923-2015) was the author of over 35 books, including the popular Back Side series, A Faith of Her Own: Women of the Old Testament, Strong Was Her Faith: Women of the New Testament, I Bought a House on Gratitude Street, and the Christian Believer study, and was a presenter on DISCIPLE videos. He was part of the faculty of Asbury Theological Seminary since 1993, formerly serving as president and then as senior professor of homiletics. He was a United Methodist pastor for 38 years and also served five years in evangelism with the World Methodist Council. Longing to Pray How the Psalms Teach Us to Talk with God By J. Ellsworth Kalas Abingdon Press Copyright © 2006 Abingdon Press All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-0-687-49512-2 Contents Foreword, 1. The Ultimate Friendship, 2. Secrets of Friendship: Candor, 3. Secrets of Friendship: Time, 4. Secrets of Friendship: Beauty, 5. Secrets of Friendship: Place, Posture, and Punctuality, 6. Secrets of Friendship: Exuberance, 7. Secrets of Friendship: Specificity, 8. Secrets of Friendship: Wonder and Witness, 9. Secrets of Friendship: Gratitude, 10. Secrets of Friendship: Repentance, 11. Secrets of Friendship: Helplessness, 12. Secrets of Friendship: Anger, Suggestions for Leading a Study John D. Schroeder, CHAPTER 1 The Ultimate Friendship I have lived long enough to know that very few things in this world, if any, matter as much as friendship. Friendships, like dogs, come in so many shapes and sizes that one can hardly believe that the same generic name applies to all. Friendship can mean everything from the person we know only at the checkout counter or at the dry-cleaning shop (in many cases we hardly know their names) to persons who are so much a part of our lives that it's hard to imagine life without them. Each year I realize with more intensity the truth of John Donne's words that "any man's death diminishes me"; that even casual friendships make up more of the fabric of our lives than we realize, and that our great friendships are simply invaluable. Thousands of times I have remembered the words of Grace Bagby, a high-school English teacher, and hundreds of times I have quoted her: If you get one true friend in this lifetime, she told our class, just one true friend, you're rich. I have been rich several times by Miss Bagby's definition, and I am rich in that fashion today. I thank God nearly every day for such friendships, and I cherish such wealth for you. But I've also lived long enough to know that one shouldn't expect too much from any human friend. That's because our human friends are human. They get tired—tired in general, and sometimes tired of us. They have problems of their own. They are limited in strength, patience, and understanding. One shouldn't expect too much of any human friend. You and I need another Friendship. We need God. When Blaise Pascal said that there is in every human heart a God-shaped void that only God can fill, he was describing the friendship that matters most; indeed, that matters eternally. And for this friendship with God, the language of communication is prayer. This language is so instinctive to us that we humans pray whether we are religious or not. Some don't pray much, and as a result, they don't have much of a friendship, but I suspect that everyone sends out a prayer now and then. Some years ago a public opinion survey in a major European country revealed that in that country more people prayed than believed in God, which is to say that people yearn for this friendship even when they resent, question, or deny the Friend. As for me, I confess without apology that this is the friendship without which I could not survive. I have read of the saints who have passed through the "dark night of the soul," periods of time when they could not in any way sense the reality or the presence of God. Call me a spiritual coward, but I do not wish to reach such a level of saintliness that God would entrust me to pass through such an experience of holy absence. My need for the Divine Friendship is too great. I cherish open communication with God. Above everything, I need this friends