Psychology and Spirituality
Pastoral Ministries Program,
Santa Clara University (last taught Winter 2002)
Lecture 6: Psychology of Prayer
Housekeeping:
Reflection papers due next week
Handouts re: Prayer and Personality types for session February 21
PSALM 139: This passage shows
for me all the dimensions of prayer, some of them in contrast to what I learned
as a child
What does it say about God, prayer and us?
Immediacy of God
Totality of God's knowledge of us
God gone before us; knows all about us
Constraint; movement
Nowhere in creation beyond God's presence
"Otherness" of God
Hostility/ anger/ hatred
Searching/ testing/ discernment
What is prayer?
"Prayer is the raising of one's mind and heart to God or the requesting
of good things from God."[Catholic Catechism]
Prayer is "any personal, impersonal or transpersonal way to express
communion with the sacred." (Ruland,
1994:19)
Broad definition: tradition is sometimes narrower: "deep feelings
or ruminations, yes. But don't call them prayer or meditation." (Ruland,
1994:25)
"a living communion of the religious man with God, conceived as
personal and present in experience, a communion which reflects the forms
of the social relations of humanity." Psychological root is desire
to enhance life. "Prayer is the expression of a primitive impulsion
to a higher, richer, intenser life." (Heiler, 1918)
What are some of the understandings of prayer that you have known,
either traditional or personal?
Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving,
Supplication
Two movements of prayer: "Oh, God; Oh, God!" and "Thank
You; Thank You!"
What is the theology behind traditional modes of prayer?
What are some of the functions of prayer (independent of content)?:
Cognitive: perspective/ worldview
Social: transmission of culture/ connection to others/ identity
and role in society
Relational: self <--> others; self <--> the Other;
triangulation of relationship to others in context of the Other (the function
of the God image is to remind us that we are not it.)
The Psychology of Prayer: Prayer as behavior
(Ritual/ positions/ words/ worldviews?)
McCullough and Larson (1999)
Gallup poll: 90% pray sometime; 97% believe its heard and/or answered;
86% believe it makes a better person; 77% satisfied with prayer life.
Women pray more than men, and are more likely to pray in meditative,
reflective fashion and experience deeper religious feelings.
Whites are less likely to pray (87-90%, compared to 90-95%); nonwhites
also more satisfied, more frequently used prayer books, more frequently
asked for material things and more ready to use prayer as a problem-solving
strategy.
Older adults pray more than younger adults.
Important coping mechanism for stress: aging, health issues, etc.
Friedrich Heiler (1918) [Wulff
1991, pp. 532-540]: descriptive psychology. Nine types:
Naive Prayer of Primitive Man: impulsive petitionary prayer of nonliterate
individual
Ritual Prayer Formula: no longer spontaneous, now proscribed–
magical progression
The Hymn: expression of priests– elaboration in rhythm, rhyme
and metrical expression
Greek religion of 4th Century BCE: spontaneous, but with ethical
orientation; petitions for moral values
Philosophical Prayer: beyond anthropomorphic god to eternal ethical
ideals; for some, petition disappears entirely. Subjective and psychological
values
Petition not for material things but for realization of highest
ideals in self and others
Renunciation of desire and surrender to destiny
Solemn contemplation– of divine greatness in all things
Prayer of Great Religious Personalities: "most profound"
not limited to ritual occasions, but part of ongoing life
Mystical
Prophetic
Individual Prayer of Artists and Poets: non-religious
Aesthetic-contemplative
Ethical-emotional
Prayer in Public Worship
Individual Prayer as a Law of Duty and Good Works: fear of punishment
and hope of reward; an authority-imposed duty
Essence of Prayer: "a living communion of the religious
man with God, conceived as personal and present in experience, a communion
which reflects the forms of the social relations of humanity."
Psychological root is desire to enhance life. "Prayer is the
expression of a primitive impulsion to a higher, richer, intenser
life." [Wulff 1991,
pp. 532-540]
Margaret Poloma [Hood 1996:
211-213] Description of prayer styles:
Contemplative-Meditative: intimate and personal relation
with the divine and "being in the presence of God."
How often do you spend time just feeling or being in the presence
of God?
How often do you spend time worshipping or adoring God?
Ritual Prayer: repetition of prayers from memory or written
material
How often do you read from a book of prayers?
How often do you recite prayers that you have memorized?
Petitionary Prayer: asking God to meet specific needs
How often do you ask God for material things you might need?
How often do you ask God for material things your friends or
relatives might need?
Colloquial Prayer: conversation with God
How often do you ask God to provide guidance in making decisions?
How often do you talk with God in your own words?
Intercessory Prayer: prayer for others
Sample Questions:
How often in the past year have you felt divinely inspired or
"led by God" to perform something specific as a result
of prayer?
How often have you received what you believed to be a deeper
insight into a spiritual or Biblical truth?
How often have you received what you considered to be a definitive
answer to a specific prayer request?
How often have you felt a strong sense of God during prayer?
How often have you experienced a deep sense of peace and well-being
during prayer?
Position of the body in prayer: bowed, kneeling, tefillin, rosary,
etc.
Behavioral theory and prayer: taught to children, who are praised
for engaging in it. Intellectual accomplishment, social approval.
Prayer becomes associated with the easing of hunger and relaxation
at mealtime, bedtime prayers associated with rest and sleep. "Countless
prayers said under the conditions of want or worry and almost always
followed by the termination of the undesirable state gradually establish
praying as the predicable response to stressful situations. (Wulff,
1991: 121)
Cognitive psych: memorizing prayer gives children a standard.
The so-called concrete differentiated child may equate what they say
while praying with what prayers are (e.g. Prayers are "God bless
mommy and daddy") because the only way the child knows how to
describe prayers at this age is in terms of a generalized narrative
that reports the prayer activity. Hearing religious stories again
and again about prayers may help solidify what the sequence of the
prayer scripts. The prayers of the "abstract differentiated" child
may contain personal content because at about the age of seven children
start to form separate and distinct memories an can therefore distinguish
one event from another. Learning to describe the prayer activity
provides the basis from which the child will eventually learn how
to describe their more autobiographical prayers. (Hood,
1995: 328-329)
Attachment theory: crying and calling by an infant find close
parallel in supplicatory prayer. Young children use their attachment
figures as a secure base while exploring their environment by periodically
checking back with their mothers visually, verbally, and/or physically
to reassure themselves that they are still available and attentive....
Prayer may be characterized as a kind of "God referencing"
in which the goal is to maintain proximity and reassure oneself of
God's continued presence and availability.(Hood,
1995: 457)
Well Being: Respondents who scored higher on a scale measuring
religious experiences during prayer were more likely to perceive themselves
to be happier, to have a greater sense of meaning and purpose in life,
and to be more satisfied with life (Poloma and Pendelton, 1991). (Hood,
1996: 212)
Prayer and coping: Coping: alleviates stress and depression:
collaborative relationship with God experiments on intercessory prayer:
problems– manipulating God; limiting meaning of prayers (Hood,
1996: 212)
Development of Prayer: What is your earliest memory of prayer? What
did it mean then? Has your conception changed? How?
Development of Children's Attitudes toward Prayer [ See chart
] (Hood, 1995: 283-284)
From Action to Relationship
5-7 years
vague and indistinct understanding
connected to "God" and some forms of action
7-9 years
different from other actions
still, a concrete, verbal action, external forms
9-12 years
personal conversation with God;
requests become secondary
Conversation with God:
7-9 years: external actions emphasized
9-12 years: petitionary prayer emphasized
12+ years: conversation with God and reliance on God
"Magical Thinking"
5-9 years: "magical phase"
prayer is sole cause of events
God answers prayer immediately
9-12 years: "Semimagical"
prayer is still causative, but there are other forces at play
in shaping reality
12+ years: "Nonmagical"
prayer is relationship, not causation; not sure what effect
prayer has
Answer to Prayer
5-12 years
expects all prayers to be answered– if not, it is due to the
child's (mis)behavior
12+ years
God answers prayers "from the heart"– if not answered,
doubt efficacy of prayer
God's Action in the World
5-9 years : God acts directly in the world
9-12+ years: God acts indirectly in the world
Is Prayer only psychology? Again, the issue of psychology and religion.:
(Feb 4, 2002) John Paul II affirmed that during the activity of the
coming days, participants in the plenary session of the Congregation for Catholic
Education will study a paper entitled "Guidelines for the use of psychology
in the admission and formation of candidates to the priesthood. This document
is proposed as a useful instrument for formators who are called to discern
candidates' suitability and vocation with a view to the good of the candidates
themselves and of the Church." The psychological sciences, he said, must
be integrated into the framework of a candidate's overall formation, safeguarding
the "value of and time dedicated to spiritual guidance." Psychology
"does not eliminate all difficulties and tensions, but favors a broader
awareness and a freer exercise of liberty so as to be able - with the invaluable
support of grace - to engage in an open and frank struggle (with those difficulties)."
Ann and Barry Ulanov: Prayer as Primary
Speech: Primary Process, Projection and Fantasy
Primary Process
Primary process: Freud (and other depth-psychologists) identify
the infantile, pre-conscious level of human experience; the flow of
life before it becomes filtered, labeled, structured, put into words;
Primary process is the first language of the child, but it is not
verbal. the primary process is closer to the depths of the individual,
but because of its inherently unconscious nature, it remains only
potential and chaotic
The process of encountering the outside world, of differentiation
from the original formless union, Freud called the secondary process,
and it is essential for the development of ego and identity; it is,
however, subject to distortion, to denial, repression and unconsciousness
In one sense, prayer is not a thing we do; it is part of who we
are-- at some deep level, we are all engaged in inner conversation,
not just in words, but images, feelings, valuings
From "process" to "speech": Prayer is also something
we do; we begin to listen to the one who speaks, attend to the One
addressed, and gradually bring into consciousness the interaction.
The Ulanovs suggest that prayer is a process of listening carefully
to that primary speech, of carefully entering the totality of our
innermost being. In prayer, we encounter images and feelings, impulses
and fantasies that may seem strange, unwelcome or embarrassing. Often,
we try to hide or deny the images, rather than acknowledge or examine
them.
Not just inner conversation with ourselves or stream of consciousness;
prayer is directed speech-- a conversation with the "other."
(as in Psalm 139 ) because it is not merely listening to the
voices, but engaging in a conversation with God, we are able to find
new places to stand where we can let go of inadequate images, move
to deeper understandings.
Process of projection-- seeing in the other, the attributes that
actually belong to us.
Projection is “an unconscious, automatic process whereby
a content that is unconscious to the subject transfers itself
to an object, so that it seems to belong to that object. The projection
ceases the moment it becomes conscious, that is to say when it
is seen as belonging to the subject." (C.G. Jung, 1968, Archetypes
of the Collective Unconscious:60)
Jesus' Parable of the speck and the log: Why do you see the
speck in your neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log in your
own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, 'Let me take the
speck out of your eye,' while the log is in your own eye? You
hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you
will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye.
(Matthew 7:3-5)
Projection and introjection describe two complementary psychological
movements. Internal realities are projected onto external people
and things. External realities are introjected by being brought
into our internal life. Projection and introjection describe ways
that our images of God are shaped by early experiences, especially
of parents
Freud declared that God was "nothing more" than projection
Rizzuto noted that earliest God images are reflections of our
early relationships to caregivers (Rizzuto,
1979)
Analogy of looking through a window on a dark night— the
strength of our projections obscures our vision of reality until
we can lessen their intensity; this is done by:
recognition of the projection
acknowledgment (owning) the projection
disidentification from the projection (this is not the totality
of my own being; this is not the totality of the Ultimate)
Fantasy, Imagination, Art, Music, Prayer
Exercise of imagination, playfulness
Paul Pruyser: the Tutored Imagination ( see chart
)
"Illusion Processing" as the mediating point between autistic
and realistic worlds
If the Ulanovs are right about prayer, what difference might it
make?
Entering into prayer as primary speech:
Fundamental attitude of honesty and confession (requires faith and
confidence):
Is it possible to conceal the truth about ourselves from God?
Example of priest in Mel Brooks' The Twelve Chairs. About
to abandon his vows and values, he "prays"-- "O,
Thou Who Knowest All . . . ah, you know."
Begin to pray and listen to the self who is speaking
clatter of inner noise-- all the voices clamoring for attention
gradually the chaos quiets and we begin to focus attention on
the One to whom we speak
We discover that we are not so much seeking God as responding to God's
search for us-- "primary" means "before" as well
As we face/ accept ourselves as we are we begin to develop
hope and the possibility of change
"We will not be given more if we refuse what has already been
given to us. We cannot expect anything to added or changed in us if
we are not willing to accept the facts about us and especially the
facts, hidden away from everybody else, that only we know." (Ulanov,
p. 10)
Acknowledging the reality of myself and following the images of
God I hold: Prayer is bringing as much as I know of myself
to as much as I know of God.