What Does It Mean To Pray?
"I'm not superstitious. But, I am a little stitious." -Michael Scott (The Office)
A school shooting, a destructive tornado or hurricane, a terminal diagnosis, any time anything that exceeds human understanding happens we are bound to hear the phrase, "My thoughts and prayers go out to those affected." I've said it, posted it online and texted it to friends and family, and each time I've never not meant it wholeheartedly. But, have you noticed that the world has become somewhat calloused to that phrase? Online I'll see it posted, "thoughts and prayers," and in the comments, I'll see people coming after them as though they posted hate speech. "Keep your thoughts and prayers to yourself, I'll take action and follow through." Or the one that can hurt me the most, "Superstitions are no help right now, but thanks for babbling to your sky dad for me." I'm not kidding, friends, that is an actual quote taken directly from a Facebook post.
We can talk about how the person who posted the mean comment was also an entrepreneur who designed and sold, wait for it, healing crystals.
So, why has the world become so ready and willing to dismiss prayer while embracing other superstitions? While I don't want to point the blame at any one person or group, I want us, as Christians, to examine our own role in this issue.
Another phrase I want us to look at is, "There are no atheists in foxholes." This is a brutal truth that I've seen time and time again, even without ever being in combat. The phrase is meant to show how easily even the most skeptical person can go to prayer in a moment of intense trial and suffering when there is, seemingly, nothing else to turn to. We can fool ourselves into thinking that only those outside the church would have such a prayer life. But, far too often it's we Christians who are painting the clearest picture of a "only when I need it," prayer life.
When the world looks at Christians they may be likely to see a believer who only prays in foxholes. They may see a Christian whose prayer life consists of asking God for the things they need when they need them, then stopping all prayer the moment they get it, or throwing their hands up in frustration and stopping prayer in a fit. I'm guilty of it, I have to admit. There have been stretches of time where I've treated my Creator like a vending machine, going to Him only in moments of want or need, plugging in my number, then kicking and rocking the machine to get my snack that got stuck.
What kind of understanding of prayer does that paint to the world around us?
Can we as Christians blame the world when they see prayer treated in this manner, then so easily reject or push against our offer of prayers for them in their moment of crises? Imagine owning a car for a decade and driving 100,000 miles on it, but never changing the oil, checking the brakes, or even putting new wipers on it. Then being shocked when you offer it a person to drive across town in and they say thanks, but no thanks. How can you expect them to take comfort in and be encouraged by something that you show such little respect for and put such little of your own effort into?
Please understand, friend, I do not mean to blame you and your prayer life for the way the world views Christianity. Rather, I want to follow in the Methodist tradition of loving accountability by holding a mirror up to your prayer life and asking you to examine it. It's between you and God, no one else. Christ tells us that our prayers are not for the world to hear, "And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others" (Matthew 6:5). In the same way the salvation we received through Christ alone is not so that we can boast to the world about our own redemption, but so that we can live in such a way that our words and actions draw people to the love and grace of Jesus, so too can our prayer life be an example to the world around us! I'm not saying to take your prayer life public. I'm encouraging you to develop such a prayer life that the world around you can't help but take notice.
I want to encourage all of you into a very easy, yet difficult-to-maintain habit. Prayer journals are an amazing way to purge the emotional overflow that happens to us all so often. Writing down your thoughts and feelings and taking them to God is a tool that I only recently put into place in my own prayer life, and already I'm seeing the benefits. It is incredible to go back and look at prayers I lifted up weeks or months ago and, in hindsight, look at all the ways that God was at work even when I wasn't aware of it.
Our prayers are more than superstition. They are powerful, spirit-filled, and world-changing. When I say, "I'm praying for you," I want my prayer life to be so evident and on display to the world around me that you can't help but be moved by the gesture because you know it means I'm dedicating my time, energy, focus, and support fully behind you and in opposition to the obstacle standing in your path.
Our prayers have power, do you believe it?
