Friday, October 29, 2010

Thoughts on Prayer from Pr. Sanna


I’m reading a small book by Sr. Joan Chittister in which she reflects on prayer. She writes, “Prayer as we know it and talk about it can be very seductive.” “O God, let there be a parking space”—as if God were our own personal parking valet. “Pray for a nice day” as if the local meteorologist hasn’t already told us what tomorrow’s weather will bring. We use prayer to forgive ourselves, to let us off the hook, for being less than we are meant to be. Too often “I’m praying for it” means I don’t intend to do anything else but pray that someone else will do something. Or we make prayer a child’s game, one step beyond magic or fantasy. Then when we don’t get what we “prayed” for, we disconnect from God.

Frederick Douglass, escaped slave, is quoted as saying, “I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.” What we need to pray for is the strength to be what we are intended to be, to do what we are meant to do, for the courage to face the challenges that come our way, for the endurance to keep going even when there is no apparent change. We must pray that the Spirit of God is with us as we do what must be done whether we succeed in the process or not.

The ancients talked about four purposes of prayer: adoration, contrition, thanksgiving, supplication. Supplication, what we beg from God, reminds us of our dependence on God. Adoration, contrition, and thanksgiving remind us that this God is our beginning and our end—all we are, all we have comes from God.

Prayer: O God, give me the qualities of character I need to do what it is you have put me here to do in your name. Amen. 

Posted by Pastor Jeff at 9:07 AM

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