"Too many hard words"

Estee, Jude and I drove to an indoor gym the other day when the ice was a couple inches thick on the road. As we buckled in to drive home we jokingly said, "whelp, lets pray we don't crash."

I then asked Jude if he wanted to pray.

"Sure." He says so happily that it makes even a stranger smile.

I then fed him the lines of the Lords Prayer and he repeated them to me.

Our Father in heaven,
Great is your name.
Your Kingdom come,
Your will be done
On Earth,
As it is in heaven.
Give us today,
Our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses
As we forgive those who
Trespass against us.
And lead us not into
Temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For yours is the Kingdom
The power
The glory forever.
Amen.

Estee then asked Jude if he could pray that prayer by himself.

Jude replied, "No, too many hard words."

Indeed there are hard words for a 3 year old to say...

But come to think of it these words are hard adults.

Prayer - Baptism of our Lord

In you God we find our not only our comfort but you are the very source of life of which we depend on each and every day.  We come with bowed head and humbled hearts in order to die to ourselves and be made new in your Holy Spirit.  At least that is what we think we want.  God, we confess this day that perhaps we do not really desire to be made new and walk in your ways because we have given our lives to the god of our ego.  We confess that we seek for ways in which the church can serve us or feed us all the while forgetting that Jesus called the church into existence in order to serve and feed others.  We build our relationship with you Holy God like we build relationships with our neighbor.  That is often times, we think of you as just a really nice person who grants wishes if you whenever you feel inclined to do so.  And when we think of you in this way we then think that being Christian is being a really nice citizen who does nice things for people when we feel inclined to do so.  We confess that we may not have any real clue on what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.  We confess that even if we discover what being a disciple means we may not choose to live into that life of self sacrifice and community.  We confess that we talk the religious talk, do some pious things and all the while we put our trust, our faith, in other things.  So if there is anything that may happen today may we be convicted to see where our hearts reside and if we are willing to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

We pray this day not just on our own behalf but for the concerns and thanksgivings for the world.  Where there is pain let there be Grace; where there is suffering bring serenity; for those afraid help them be brave; where there is misery bring expectancy; where there is captivity bring liberation; where there is despair let there be hope.  For surely if there is any Good in this world – let that Good shine through all of us so we might be embodiments of Love.  We join the great cloud of witnesses, past and present as we pray Our Father...

Gaining Perspective - By Abraham Joshua Heschel

Prayer is a perspective from which to behold, from which to respond to, the challenges we face. [Humans] in prayer do not seek to impose their will upon God; they seek to impose God's will and mercy upon themselves. Prayer is necessary to make us aware of our failures, backsliding, transgressions, sins.


Taken from Inward/Outward 


Sitting at lunch the other day, the young woman was deeply disturbed by the news she heard coming from a voice through her iPhone.  She stopped looking at her computer and set it to sleep.  She hung up the phone, her eyes watered over like slightly like one staring at a computer screen for too long.  The half eaten sandwich no longer was appealing as she stood to leave, almost forgetting her over-sized purse which now she feels she overpaid for.  Walking to the door toward her car, she makes it halfway and sits at a table outside the cafe paralyzed.


"Are you okay?" I asked.


Looking up at me with a look in her eyes as though she was looking through her relationship Rolodex to recognized who was asking.  Unable to identify any connection she replies, "My friend is dying.  I do not know what to do."  


"My name is Jason and if you do not mind me asking, what is your friend's first name?"


"Sandra."


When I I asked if it would be okay to her if I prayed for Sandra, she looked at me with a very quizzical look as though I had stopped speaking English and began speaking German.  


I am not sure why she looked puzzled when I asked, perhaps because it is a stranger making the request or maybe she does not pray or "believe in that sort of stuff."  Or maybe she has been taught that prayer is something you do to ask God to do something (such as heal someone) and that never "works".  I do not know.  


What I do know is that I understand prayer in the spirit of Heschel - I seek to impose the Mercy and Grace of God onto the human situation.  I do not pray that Sandra's illness he cured (while I hope it is), I pray for God's Grace to be imposed upon Sandra, this young woman and me.

Christmas List = Prayer List

Just a little invitation to anyone who would like to try this - make your Christmas shopping list your prayer list.

It is important to Christians to remember that we are not supposed to pray to only the people we love and who love us, we also are to pray for the outcasts and the enemy.  Likewise, what would it look like if we were to give gifts to not only those whom we love but also the outcasts and the enemy?

What would it look like if our Christmas list were our prayer list and our prayer list was our Christmas list?