Just like language, prayer too is fluid. Language changes to accommodate the individuals speaking it. It evolves and is ever changing. The way in which people pray changes as a result of their personality, beliefs and life experiences. Someone who is optimistic would approach prayer with more hope and confidence, knowing God will help them through their hard times while someone who is pessimistic would pray about things that are troubling them just out of practice and tradition, not necessarily because they believe God will help them through their trying time. Someone who believes that God is a strict authoritarian might pay keen attention to the way in which they approach God. They will address God by His official title only: Dear Heavenly Father or Creator. They might also be very intentional about creating an environment they feel fit for God’s presence to reside. They might go into a quiet place, get on their knees and then begin to pray. However, someone who believes God is a friend who simply loves spending time with them will pray anywhere at any time. They might pray for simple things that most people would consider a waste of a prayer and big things, when they really need a friend to listen and give them advice. Finally, an individuals’ life experiences too can shape the way they approach prayer. An individual who has underwent heartache, sickness and pain and watched God make a way for them time after time again would pray boldly to make requests of God and watch Him do what He does best, which is mend brokenness, restore health and relieve pain. On the other hand, someone who lacks faith because of the loss of a family member or a tragic accident might approach prayer with less confidence. Nevertheless, there is no one way to pray or approach prayer.
Regardless of the many ways we pray, God interprets our prayers and gives us exactly what we need. This theory of prayer is known as fluidism. Fluidism says that even when individuals don’t understand why you pray the way you do, you know it doesn’t matter because God understands and interprets our prayers on our behalf. Fluidism can be related to the African American Theory, Signifyin’ by Henry Louis Gates Jr. Within this paper, I will seek to delineate the theory Fluidism and explain how this theory is related to Gates literary theory Signifyin’.
In the article, “Prayer” written by Catholic priest, historian and author, Bede Jarret describes prayer as a simple conversation. He says prayer shouldn’t be hard and there’s no training needed to pray. Prayer is a gift to us from God. Jarret says that there is no one model of prayer. This belief supports the theory of Fluidism that says there is no one method of praying and the way an individual prays is a direct result of an individuals’ personality, beliefs and life experiences. God hears all our prayers. He wants us to pray to Him. He wants us to talk to Him when our hearts are heavy and in need of Him to lift our heavy burdens or when we’re overjoyed and simply want to dialogue. God says in Matthew 11:28 that we should pray to Him when we are weary and burdened. We should also talk to God when we are content with life and merely want to deepen our relationship with Him. Irrespective of how and why you pray, God intercedes our prayer and grants us our needs.
There are many individuals who theories of prayer are contrary to fluidism. These critics stipulate exactly how to pray and what to pray for and claim then God will answer the prayer. The book, War Room: Prayer is a Powerful Weapon, tells the story of a seemingly successful young couple. The young couple has a beautiful home, good paying jobs, expensive cars, a healthy child, everything that the average person would associate with a happy marriage. However, their marriage quickly begins to fall apart. Their marriage falls apart because as Ms. Clara says in the movie, “To win any battle you must have the right strategy and resources.” Ms. Clara supports the ideology critics pro-fluidism would denounce. Ms. Clara believes that there is a specific way in which we must go about prayer. She believed in finding a private and quiet place to pray to God. Ms. Clara thought that because this method of prayer worked for her, it would work for anyone. However, fluidism says that it doesn’t matter where, when or how you pray, all that matters is that you do pray because once you pray God will intercede on your behalf.
There are also many other misconceptions of prayer that fluidism denounces. Some critics believe prayer isn’t a dialogue, but it’s a monologue. They believe that praying to God is like talking to a wall. It’s not necessarily a vehicle to commune with God but it’s simply a venting session to get out all that you kept bottled up inside. Fluidism however, stipulates that prayer is the way we talk to God and God talks to us. Fluidism states that prayer is one of the ways we can build our relationship with God. Just like any other relationship, in order to grow, quality time together is important. Ellen White says in her book, The Signs of the Times, “…prayer is the unbroken union of the soul with God, so that life from God flows into our life; and from our life, purity and holiness flow back to God.” This quote goes against the belief of prayer being a one way street.
Another misconception of prayer fluidism denounces is the belief that you must be without sin when praying to God for your prayer to be heard. Fluidism states that there is nothing a person can do to earn God’s favor. Roman 3:10 states that no human is righteous and Isiah 64:6 says that even the acts that we perform and consider “righteous” are as filthy rags. God knew the end from the beginning. He knows we need Him. He wants us to pray to Him regardless of our sin because it is through our communion with Him that we will be saved.
Fluidism also denounces the belief that prayer is only heard when you’re kneeling, prostrate before God as seen in the image below. Fluidism says that there is no one way to pray to God. There’s nothing wrong with kneeling down, prostrate before God but there’s also nothing wrong with sitting down or standing up when praying. God hears our prayers, interprets and intercedes them regardless. It doesn’t matter the location, once you send your prayers to God, He is willing to listen.
There are two main teaching of fluidism: it doesn’t matter what you pray for and there is no one correct way to pray. The first teaching of fluidism is rooted in Romans 8:26 that says we don’t know what to pray for so the Spirit intercedes for us. According to Merriam-Webster, the term intercede is defined as, “to intervene between parties with a view to reconciling differences. The Holy Spirit literally changes what we pray for to what we should pray for. Because we’re sinful and imperfect beings, we don’t always know what’s best. God however knows what’s best. Sometimes we request of God things that we think would work in our favor when God being all knowing knows what’s truly best and that sometimes its contrary to what we ask. Therefore, the Spirit stands as our intercessor. This is one of the many reasons fluidists believe that it doesn’t matter what you pray. Once you pray, the Spirit intercedes on your behalf. Individuals looking at fluidists relationship with God won’t understand but fluidists know that once they pray, their prayer is heard by God and answered the way He deems best.
Fluidism can be related to the literary theory Signifyin. Signifyin’ was coined by literary scholar and cultural theorist, Henry Louis Gates. Signifyin is heavily practiced in black culture. In The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of African-American Literary, Henry Louis Gates describes signifyin’ as “a trope in which are subsumed several other rhetorical tropes, including metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, and irony (the master tropes), and also hyperbole, litotes, and metalepsis. Henry Louis Gates Jr. defines two types of signifying: oppositional/motivated and cooperative and unmotivated. Unmotivated signifyin’ takes the form of the repetition and alliteration of another text while Motivated signifyin’ works as a metaphor for formal revision.
In the book, Understanding African American Rhetoric: Classical Origins to Contemporary Innovation, the author says, “While signifying is a way of encoding a message, one’s shared cultural knowledge is the basis on which any reinterpretation of the message is made.” This simply means that one’s understanding of a text is based on knowledge based on a shared culture. For example, African Americans would be able to interpret and relate to Kendrick Lamar’s How to pimp a butterfly album that speaks to the hardship faced by African Americans while someone outside of that cultural bubble would find it hard to do so.
Fluidism stresses the importance of a personal relationship with God. It is only through a personal relationship with God will an individual understand the method of prayer that is best suited for them. Whichever method is best for an individual can only be understood by that individual and God because they are the only individuals in that relationship. If you think of the individual and God being a “cultural bubble” and their method of communication (prayer) being based on their understanding of the knowledge derived from their shared relationship, then just as the theory of signyfin’ suggests that likeminded interpretations of texts can be understood by individuals who share the same cultural background, a person’s reasoning for praying the way they do can only be understood by them and God. Therefore, the second teacher of fluidism states that there is no one correct way to pray. Because the method in which you pray is based on your personal relationship with God and everyone’s relationship with God is different, the way in which you approach prayer will consequently be different.
Fluidism gives you the freedom to pray in the way that is best suited for you and God. Some individuals prefer to pray in a quiet place, free from distractions so they can clearly hear the voice of God speaking to them. Another individual might find it best to pray outdoors in nature, surrounded by the things created by God himself. Other individuals find it best to pray in spaces in which they are comfortable and familiar with such as their bedroom. Fluidism supports no one method but supports any method of prayer that will advance their relationship with God.
The prayer theory fluidism was developed to combat the negative stigma associated with prayer. As Christians, we have a way of taking the gifts that God has given us and making them burdensome and something we do to fulfill daily traditions. Fluidism states that prayer should be an activity that’s enjoyed. When you weigh prayer down with mandatory terms of use, it easily transforms it from being a gift to being a hassle. Therefore, Fluidism allows you to assess your relationship with God and choose the best way to communicate and not worry about your prayer not being heard because you prayed for something contrary to what God wants for you. Fluidism supports the ideology of prayer being a gift because fluidists believe that once prayer stops being a gift, it eliminates the purpose of prayer which is to advance your relationship with God.