Ryan and Michelle

Ryan and Michelle Black

Ryan and Michelle Black speak about Prayer

“We are Christians, I like to use the word Christfollower for lots of different reasons. Yeah, Iike that too” As far as type of Christians we would identify as Pentecostal Christians. Pentecostal is like a sub-branch of Christianity.

What does prayer mean to you?
Michelle: “For me it’s a time of connecting with God and knowing he’s heart, seeking his heart and I guess speaking to him just in our everyday life like it’s communication with him, it’s knowing that more about him, it’s seeking him and what his heart is for things and people”

Ryan: “For me prayer is communion with God or communication with God

How do you pray?
Ryan It’s something that can be done all the time. It can be a specified time – when I’m literally taking time out to pray or it could be whilst I am doing something else. I could be in the middle of a job, I could be doing something at home, I could be walking somewhere, I could be talking – in that moment – the word communion having that union with God at all times So, something I am aware of is a verse in the Bible that says, “Pray Continuously”, and I remember reading a few years ago an idea of just a Breath Prayer something that could be a short 3 word phrase. I could be going from one thing to another, it’s just a quick little phrase, just a constant reminder to myself that I am always in communication always connected to God.

Wanting to live in that union with God at all times.

I’d say this for both of us is the idea of worship as a type of prayer. Worship can be anything. You can worship God with your life, with everything you do and say but we love to use music as a way to worship God. If we are sitting down with instruments and singing – that is very deliberate – and time deliberately put aside to enjoy God and enjoy that union with Him. The two of us are the worship pastors at our church and that is a leadership role looking after a team of musicians and singers;p that’s the pastoral side. Within that is the focus on worship and what that means and encouraging others to be in that space as well.

Prayer can look like anything – I could be walking from my car to my workplace. I could be lying in bed waiting to go to sleep. I want to sleep – in this moment my prayer right now is focusing on the presence of God and the love of God; I’ll just rest in that and I’ll fall asleep in that moment and that’s quite nice.

Music is a big part of it, very deliberate words to the songs that we play at church or songs that we write on our album they are prayers – we call it a vertical worship from us to God and back so it’s direct first person.

There’s prayer time at church where the person leading will say, “Let’s close our eyes and pray!” So then it’s community prayer praying the same thing at once but then again music’s the same thing as well. So music at church is everyone singing the same words at the same time and same prayer.

At school I teach religious education we talk about prayer and we also go to Mass – there are the prayers that are part of that service: so there’s the ‘Our Father’, ‘Holy Holy’ and there’s a whole heap more – they’re all community prayers – people praying the same words at the same time but then it gets personal as well.

With quite a lot of passages in the Bible you can immerse yourself in it and it becomes your prayer

How do you pray?
Michelle “It’s your everyday life, whatever you’re doing it’s an opportunity to connect with God in different moments and just being aware of him and aware of his presence with you. That knowledge of knowing he’s with you will also inspire times of prayer as well. I think it’s something that continues to grow as you know God and know his heart more.

Through our music we do have prayerful moments within songs which – lyrically – they are a conversation between us and God or just a statement of our faith. Also there are times I might just see a scripture and it means something; or something is highlighted in it. It might be that I just really look into that and start praying through it and see why is that being highlighted or is there more on this that God’s trying to say to me.

There are different ways (of prayer). There are formal prayers that we would do with our children or when we gather together at church, there’s formal prayers in that too. Personal prayer – I think – is just that ongoing thing but you might stop and pause and you might just stop and pray and just have a moment with God. Or it might be a specific prayer for someone – just praying for someone or just a general prayer, as well. I think it’s just that relationship with Him and knowing what’s in his heart and seeking that out and knowing how to pray through that, too.

Coming from a restful place or state of mind, it’s just how we live, it’s just a lifestyle but not like working to get God’s attention or working to connect to him but just coming from that place of rest.

Knowing that we can speak with him at any time and connect to his heart at any time – a restful position of your heart.

Tool for prayer?
Michelle – Our main tool would be an instrument or just sitting at the piano and just praying and worshipping God that way … Making a space or setting a time aside to do that – being deliberate with your time

It could be going out into nature or just sitting somewhere and just looking at the environment and everything that’s around us. They’re all tools that show us who God is in different ways.

Ryan If I’ve put myself in the right headspace, in the right zone, the right concentration, then the prayer flows out more freely in that moment. If I’m deliberately playing music – let’s say it’s a prayer meeting before church has begun I’d be playing some chords softly and I might sing a few words and then something will begin to flow from that.

The Bible is a tool as well. Some Christians would use prayer beads which is great – music would be that for us – Nature as well. Praying continuously as much as possible. I don’t want it be, “Oh no,I better pray!”, but more like prayer out of thankfulness – trying to always live in that space, trying to always be there is something I always desire to do.

Has prayer changed for you over the years?
Michelle: As a child I remember just knowing God but there’s a deepening of that knowing now throughout the years. He’s always been an important part of my life. In the Bible it says, “Draw near to him and he’ll draw near to you”, so I guess as you’re continually aware of him and drawing near to him through your life. I guess it’s a relationship that grows and continues to grow as you know each other more.

Ryan: When I was younger, I had a more formal approach to prayer and I would almost go as far as saying I have a too casual approach to prayer now, it’s like it’s always there and it’s not that it’s not formal, it’s not that it’s not reverent, but it’s continued conversation that’s always there; it’s like I almost don’t make that time as much as I should so that’s one thing that’s changed for me. As a child it was praying my prayers before going to bed and now it’s part of that these days is praying with my children before they go to bed, on the way to work with them as well – they’re the more formal prayers. For the rest of the time it’s those sort of breath prayers every now and then.