Quotes from John Domonic Crossan's The Greatest Prayer. Fantastic book so far...
But maturity in prayer—and in theology—means working more and more from prayers of request (complaint or petition), through prayers of gratitude (thanksgiving or praise), and on to prayers of empowerment (participation or collaboration)—with a God who is absolutely transcendent and immanent at the same time. That God is like the air all around us. God, like air, is everywhere, for everyone, always, and both totally free as well as absolutely necessary. (pg. 28)
After all, although God often speaks of rejecting prayer in the absence of justice, God never speaks of rejecting justice in the absence of prayer. (p. 20)
Instead, they [the prophets] insist that God does not want prayer, ritual, liturgy, or sacrifice, but wants instead that righteous justice rule not only the land of Israel, but all the earth. (p. 14)
