Be Busy Learning to Pray

Dear Child (please don't be upset if I call you Malcolm),

I'm on a CS Lewis kick right now.  Partly because my interest in him was piqued this summer through a seminary course which led me to read two of his autobiographical works Surprised by Joy and A Grief Observed.  This semester I have followed up with a course dealing exclusively in the writings and life of CS Lewis and is taught by one of my favorite professors, Dr. Lyle W. Dorsett.  He is one of the godliest men I know and he prayed for your dad before he even became a student at Beeson.  I am very thankful for his influence in my life.

In turn, I came across a quote from Lewis that you need to know.  Write this down as soon as you are able:

"Be busy learning to pray."

This directive, given by Lewis to a young convert to Christianity by the name of Sheldon Vanauken, was his instruction for what the new Christian should do next.  He did not command Bible study, baptism, or church membership (although these things are all to be commended).  But his first imperative was to "be busy learning to pray."  We need to learn to pray in the sense of the "how to" when it comes to prayer.  This does not mean that you must always follow a formulaic approach to the Father (he has granted us privileged access through Jesus Christ), but it does acknowledge that vain repetitions of words should not be considered to be effective.  Jesus warns us about this type of prayer in Matthew 6:7.

However, we also need to learn to pray because this is not something that will always come naturally to us.  Your dad desires to be a man who is committed to prayer and to knowing God and communicating with him. I want to be a man who prays regularly for you, your mom, and those whom the Lord has entrusted into my care.  But this isn't something I will do naturally until I learn to pray.  Not just learn how to pray, but simply learn to pray.  This is CS Lewis' intent in his instructions.  You will never be too young or too old to learn to pray.  I hope you will start now even as you are in utero and that I have not become too old to learn either.

I am praying for you to this end and look forward to the day and night that we can pray together.

Love,
Dad