More on Beth Moore and Contemplative Prayer (What it is and what's wrong with it)

You can read Part 1 here.

The purpose of me sharing this with you is not to defame Beth Moore. I am not saying that we should or should not use other women to help us in our Bible studies (although the two comments that follow this post are so right when it says that we do get the best "gems" when we mine God's word for ourselves and allow Him to speak to us directly).

The purpose of these past two posts is to share with you what contemplative prayer is and how easily one can be deceived into thinking it is Christian, and also to be aware that Christian speakers (Beth Moore for example) that we admire and follow are also falling into this belief of contemplative prayer as being godly. And that is something we should be aware of. I am not saying not to listen to or watch Beth Moore anymore. Only to be aware that she believes in CP and that CP is not of God.

I am posting this in a DIFFERENT post so that those who wish not to discuss this further can just skip over this post.

I think the question about Beth Moore is why she spoke in a DVD (Be Still DVD) that supports contemplative prayer if she says she does not support contemplative prayer.

Through the wonderful power of the internet, when sometimes things really do stick around forever even though you wished they would disappear, I was able to find the original statement made by Beth Moore AFTER the video Be Still DVD was published:

Official Statement from Beth Moore

My Dear Sisters and Brothers,

Recently I was interviewed for a program on prayer in which I was asked certain questions without any knowledge of what other participants would say or share. Since its release, I've been baffled by some inquiries into whether or not I am a proponent of approaches to prayer with overtones of Eastern meditation. Not only is my answer no, the thought never even occurred to me. I'm a Southern Baptist, for crying out loud! I'm afraid I have to convey the full extent of my ignorance when I tell you with stark honesty that I wasn't even aware of the controversy. I am not involved in any kind of emergent church movement or any kind of mystical prayer movement. Seeing people come to know Christ Jesus through the study of His Word is the only movement I'm part of. I thought I was simply one of a number of people who were being interviewed about approaches to prayer. I also thought that our different approaches would be part of what made the program interesting. In no way did it ever occur to me that each participant would be seen as part of the same movement.

I was told that I was asked to participate because I'd written Praying God's Word. I'm not sure you'd find anything further from a mystical, almost out-of-body prayer experience I'm being asked if I support. If I have participated in something unsound, it was hugely accidental and I ask your forgiveness. Nothing could be further from my desire. I have shared platforms with other speakers and teachers a number of times. My frustration is that any of us would be at a loss to take responsibility for every point of doctrine the others hold. I humble myself before you and ask that you would please hold me responsible for my words and answers only and, even then, please keep in mind that editors can use bits and pieces of interviews to convey something the interviewee might not have intended to say. Here's what I intended to say: pray, pray, and pray some more and learn how to listen for God's response.

Rest assured I have been greatly helped by this experience and will be more careful in the future. Thank you not only for your concern but for the accountability. I want very much to be a solid servant of God and His Word. I want to keep growing in Christ. In that process, I am more than willing to receive sound correction. I am honored to serve you.

In Christ's Name,
Beth Moore

When she sent out the retraction above, people applauded her and sighed a sigh of relief that she did not support such a thing, for everything else she teaches is so right on. The DVD quotes contemplative prayer throughout. The question then becomes WHY did she retract her statement? If she did not support contemplative prayer, why would she retract the above statement and now support the DVD??

Also, a few of her more recent books are now quoting authors of contemplative prayer, commenting that their books are some of the best and most powerful she has read.

Again, it is something to be aware of and research more. Contemplative prayer is not of God.

What is contemplative prayer and what is wrong with it?

Contemplative prayer is basically (big time paraphrasing) emptying your mind, completely, in order to be able to hear god. And this god is an all inclusive god, not the God of Abraham Issac and Jacob. Jesus gave us the example of how to pray when He gave us what is called The Lord's Prayer (Our Father who art in heaven...). We were never taught any of these eastern philosophies of emptying the mind and centering ones self in order to be able to hear God. I don't know of a single prophet, judge or other man in the Bible who did this to hear from God. In fact, in the OT, when the Israelites had left Egypt and thought that God should speak to them and not just Moses, they had to go through several days of cleaning themselves before God spoke to them directly (which if you remember was too powerful for most all of them and they begged God to speak only to Moses from now on). And God spoke to Samuel in his sleep (and he thought it was Eli calling him).

I believe we do need to be still and know He is God. But there is a difference between being still and KNOWING He is God and emptying your mind and centering yourself to HEAR from God.

I will post two quotes from one of the pages I read which sums it up beautifully:

Christian prayer should be taught as it is modeled in the Bible, particularly in the New Testament. Some key passages include: Matt. 5:43-45 (pray for our enemies); Matt. 6:6 (pray without showing off); Matt. 6:9-13 (the Lord's Prayer); Matt. 7:6 (do not pray with repetitions); Matt. 9:38 (pray for God to send workers into His harvest); Matt. 21:22 and James 1:6 (pray in faith); Lk. 18:1-8 (pray/petition without losing heart); ask in the name of Christ (Jn 16:23-24); Rom. 8:25-27 (the Holy Spirit prays for us when we do not know how to pray); 1 Cor. 14:15 (pray with the spirit and with the mind); 1 Thess. 5:17 (pray without ceasing - not mindlessly, but having an attitude of prayer and being in the Lord in all things); and James 5:14-16 (pray for the sick). Our prayers are to make use of words and thought.

And:

CP is a misnomer, since it is neither contemplation nor prayer as found in the Bible. We should be wary of any instruction that advises us to:

• Breathe a certain way before or during prayer
  
• Maintain a certain posture or bodily position
  
• Repeat a word or phrase, even if it's from the Bible, or use a word or phrase to stay "focused"
  
• Go beyond thinking or thought
  
• To turn inward in order to find or be with God
  
• Be in silence in order to truly pray
  
• Believe that CP is true prayer

One more link to check out (although you can google this topic and get lots of info):
http://www.haloscan.com/tb/emergentno/114925486059350076/