It is a mistake to portray King as a great leader while leaving out his Christian theistic spirituality and deep prayer life. Such things were foundational to King, in his own mind.
SPIRITUAL FORMATION
& THE PRAYER LIFE OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
All quotes
unless otherwise cited from Lewis Baldwin,
Never to Leave Us Alone: The Prayer Life of Martin Luther King, Jr.
See also:
Walter Fluker.
They Looked for a City: A Comparative Analysis of the Ideal ofCommunity in the Thought of Howard Thurman and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Clayborne
Carson, ed. The Autobiography of MartinLuther King, Jr.
Prayer as a conversational
relationship with God.
- King defined prayer as “the human
response to God.” (1)
- Prayer is a daily conversation
and walk with God. (2)
- King honored his slave ancestors
by practicing prayer as “talking with God.” (21)
- For King prayer was “communion
with God.” (28) Because of this prayer is far more than “inspired speech
or religiously informed rhetoric.” (28)
- King described prayer as
“intimate conversation with God.” (32)
- Sometimes God’s communication to
the praying person comes as “prophetic revelation.” (33)
- Sometimes the praying person is
given “mystic insight” into the being and nature of God. (34)
If you don’t have a prayer life you
have no business being a pastor.
- “King was thoroughly convinced
that it took fervent and persistent prayer to pastor a church, and his own
life bore the stamp of that conviction.” (54)
- King believed that “the need to
develop a prayer practice or habit and indeed a vibrant prayer life was
axiomatic for the both the pastor and the congregation.” (59)
If you don’t have a prayer life you
have no business preaching.
- King never engaged in prayer-less
preaching or prayer-less sermonizing. (6)
- King was a praying preacher who
approached the act of preaching in a prayerful spirit. “Indeed, prayerful
preaching is the key to understanding King as a master pulpiteer, and it
explains much of the power and creativity he brought to his sermonic
discourse and to his art as one who proclaimed the Word as revealed in
Scripture.” (39)
- King was convinced that the
ability and energy to preach came from God. Therefore “King made prayer an
all-commanding factor in his sermon preparation.” (40)
- King “prayerfully surrendered to
God” as he prepared his sermons. (40)
- King was “intentional about
praying in the privacy of his home, church office, hotel room, and other
relatively isolated places in which he found a greater measure of peace,
silence, and solace.” (40-41)
- King depended on “’preparatory
prayer’ in thinking through and writing his sermons.” (41)
- “King never engaged in prayerless
sermonizing and/or preaching.” (44)
- King “literally lived by prayer.
Prayer pervaded every corner of his life.” (50)
Prayer as abiding in the presence of
God.
- Prayer became King’s way of
expressing himself to God, of experiencing God’s presence and
companionship, and of witnessing on behalf of others. (28)
- King’s “pastoral prayers at
Dexter Avenue Baptist Church moved people and were effective because he
spent quality time with his parishioners in what he called “the valley” of
life.” (58)
- For King “prayer… was the source
of and pathway to a grace-filled life.” (59)
Intellectual ability is not enough.
- King combined a deep personal
piety with intellectual ability and a profound social vision. (1)
- King never separated intellectual
ability, moral responsibility, and social praxis from deep personal
spirituality and piety. (5)
- For King “prayer became a matter
of invoking the supernatural and an expression of his humble submission
before the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and omnibenevolent God,
without whom the preaching becomes a meaningless play of words.” (42)
- For King, “the preacher had to
pray for guidance to ay what needed to be said and to proclaim what needed
to be proclaimed… The thought of sermons having the same effect as water
on a duck’s back, which is easily shaken off, bothered King immensely.”
(44)
- “King understood that his
seminary training and intellectual gifts, though necessary and
significant, could not guarantee what was called in clack church circles
“power from on high.” This view helps explain why King, in both his
private and public lives, mastered prayer as the art of pastoral
conversation with God.” (54)
- Once King received a phone call
at midnight from a racist who verbally degraded him, and threatened to
kill him and “blow up” his home. This deeply disturbed him, and he was
unable to sleep. “Knowing that the theology he had studied in the
corridors of academia could not help him and that he had nowhere else to
turn, King had a face-to-face encounter with what he, in the tradition of
his forebears, called a “Waymaker,” exposing his fears, insecurities, and
vulnerablities with sincerity and humility. Great comfort came as an
“inner voice” spoke to King, reminding him that he was not alone,
commanding him to stand up for righteousness, justice, and truth, and
assuring him that “lo, I will be with you, even to the end of the world.””
(69)
Prayer and Solitude
- Solitude, getting alone with God,
just you and God, was important for King. (69)
Prayer and Personal Transformation
- King’s prayers highlighted the
necessity for the transformation of the soul and uniting the soul with God
in heaven. (31)
- King believed in the power,
potential, and possibilities of prayer as a “life-transforming force.”
(36)
- For King, one must “sustain a
life of prayer.” This involves “a profound surrender of the self to God,
not prayer rooted in self-pride, self-righteousness, and
self-centeredness.” (54)
- “King had a deep appreciation for
contemplative prayer and of the potential of the Christian inner life… [He
also had] an intense longing for the simple presence of God, a deeper understanding
of God’s Word and commandments, and the will and capacity to listen to and
obey God. In this regard, solitary prayer was as important to King as
communal or group prayer.” (56)
- In being interested in
contemplative prayer King was not stepping outside of his tradition, “for
there is a contemplative trajectory in the black prayer tradition that is
not ecstatic and theatric.” (57)
- For King the worship experience
also involves “silent communication with God.” (57)
- “For King, the lives of the
ancient Hebrew prophets and of Jesus highlighted the essentiality of
contemplative prayer. He say that the prophets and Jesus withdrew at times
to quiet places to communicate with God, thus becoming a model for every
sincere believer. King also understood that periods of quiet prayer and
meditation were necessary for him and his church folk because of the
pressures of black life I the South and the hectic pace and rapid change
of modern life in a noisy world.” (57)
- Because “prayer can change the
very fabric of reality… prayer was a catalyst for positive change in one’s
self and one’s circumstances and that the promises of God are met largely
through prayer.” (59)
Prayer and Social Transformation
- Prayer has a unique role in any
serious and legitimate effort to achieve social transformation. (4)
- “Prayer and praying became for
[King] powerful resources in the effort to transform civic and political
culture and in the quest for a new nation and a new world order.” (65)
- Prayer is connected to God’s work
in the world. (67)
- “King made prayer central to the
struggle for civil and human rights.” (67-68)
- King saw himself as essentially
involved in a “spiritual movement,” and not simply a struggle for equal
right, social justice, and peace.” (68)
- Because the root, basic struggle
is about a total way of life, without prayer’s connection to God “the
quest to redeem and transform the moral and political spirit of the nation
and of humanity as a whole would ultimately prove futile and perhaps even
counterproductive.” (68)
- “King believed that the more
praying there was on the part of committed persons, the stronger the force
against evil and the greater the opportunities for creating a better
society and world.” (73)
- “King taught the people of
In prayer, the self gets exposed.
- In prayer as intimate
conversation with God the self gets exposed in all of its nakedness and
with all of its perplexities, struggles, and temptations. (32)
Prayer and Healing
- King saw and practiced prayer “as
a dimension of healing ministry.” (59)
- King “believed… that prayer
embodied infinite possibilities for healing.” (59)
- King lived in a church culture
where people “believed that prayer influences God’s dealings with humanity
and in which a frequently heard remark was that “prayer changes things.””
(59)
- Prayer can change the very fabric
of reality. (59)
Prayer as a weapon of warfare.
- Prayer has a place in the
struggle against hatred, intolerance, and war.” (35)
Effective prayer
- King was “convinced that the
power of prayer, much like that of preaching, is largely affected by the
character and conduct of the person who prays.” (49)
- “Prayer and a clean spirit are
the preacher’s best and most durable weapons when faced with the perilous
and capricious nature of life and human existence.” (50)
- “King was effective because his
praying and preaching were effective. True leadership in his case made
prayer and preaching indispensable.” (50)
Prayer and Obedience
- Prayer needs to be combined with
intelligence and responsible, positive action. “King wanted his people at
Dexter to know that genuine prayer is never an opiate but rather a
life-giving power that stimulates effort and energizes the believer for a
courageous and persistent engagement with life’s struggles… [King] also
repeatedly reminded them that God should never be regarded as some “cosmic
bell hop” to be called on for every trivial need and desire.” (61)
Prayer and Theology
- For King prayer “was a theological
activity, or in more precise terms, an exercise in practical theology.”
(64)
*****
For King to pray
is to engage in a rational activity, a natural activity. Prayer comes out of “a
throbbing desire of the human heart.” (34)
“Praying as
an act of selfishness was repulsive to King.” (35)
