It was only after I'd begun to drink the coffee that I realized that I'd forgotten to pray that the caffeine would really work.
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard someone pray, “Bless this food to our bodies” and winced. The problem is not only syntactical and logical—where else is this food going to be “blessed to??”—but causal: Should I start praying for air to be blessed to my lungs?
As Proverbs says, “The poor man and the oppressor have this in common: the Lord gives light to the eyes of both.” It follows that there are some things we don’t actually have to pray for to receive. Like light. Like air. Like biochemistry at work in the laboratories of the stomach and large intestine.
This is not denying that God keep everything in existence by his constant involvement in the universe. If God were to withdraw his creative influence, the earth would collapse back into dust. But it’s not our prayers that keep God from withdrawing his stabilizing presence, and it’s not our prayers that keep him there. These things come down to us gratis, courtesy of a loving, generous God who created us because he wanted to.
That’s why it’s entirely fitting to thank God for food or for a sunrise—and I often do, with sincere wonder and appreciation. But to pray that the food will actually dissolve into nutrients in my stomach, or that when the sun rises I will actually begin to see things by its light—these are ineffectual prayers, I think.
So what's the upshot?
[Unidentified person]: "...so thank you, God, for allowing us to gather tonight, please bless us with your presence, even as we talk with each other, and as we sit down to eat this delicious meal, please bless this food to-"
Me: "NO! Stop the prayer!"
Uh, probably not. Just the same, as awful as it sounds to say it, I think some petitions are a waste of time, and it’s not (surprise, surprise) because God won’t answer them but because he already has or will. He invites us to 'assist' in other things, but he doesn't really need our help maintaining the physical universe.
Despite the fact that I am obviously way too cynical, don't pray nearly as much as I should, and clearly have a silly vendetta against people who enjoy their dinners, I don't find this issue irrelevant. Why? Because prayer doesn't come easy to us, and this is all the more true when we start fooling ourselves as to what prayer actually is.
One thing it's not: placid, repetitive phrases about something that God will do anyway. I find myself wishing we could devote ourselves, with zest and imagination, to areas where God invites us to exert our influence with him, and remove the repetitive mantras from our topic lists.
6 comments:
I agree completely. I remember your prior post some months ago with a similar issue. It seems to me that with prayers of intercession, as opposed to those of thanks or praise, we must first discern God's will. Then, and only then, can we pray effectively. As you say, the rest is just some mindless mantra.
Cheers.
P.S. I will now go intercede for MU as the game is about to start.
In the spirit of pre-emption, let me say, "Impressive Defense."
I will now go poke myself repeatedly with a salad fork.
Cheers.
At halftime, R. Sherman says: AAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHH.
Cheers.
Like you say, Sherman, prayers of intercession are wrapped up in the will of God - and specifically in his yet-to-be-disclosed will.
Dorothy, your phrase has the ring of wry truth. Needless to say, I like it.
Re: that earlier piece on prayer, several related posts are listed under a dedicated del.icio.us tag: Prayer. Anyone interested can check 'em out.
As to the MU demolition, what can I say? My 22 point guess at the margin of victory was far too conservative. Also, it took Thomas Gardner a mere 16 shots (I think) to reach his 15 points (I forecasted 14), instead of the 28 field goal attempts that I projected.
Clearly I have a ways to go in terms of predictive accuracy, which in the case of today's game was the only source of suspense. (smirk)
It's amazing how quickly a program can sink into disarray. Oh well, there's always next year.
Cheers.
I would be highly interested in a discussion of the "areas where God invites us to exert our influence with him". It seems like a very interesting topic.
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