A Prayer For Fellowship

It has been awhile since I posted a prayer. For a time, prayer was a semi-regular feature here. Before a group gathering, I found myself wanting to pray for fellowship. 

God our Father, you are a Lord who values love. You bless us with "the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit". May your grace,  love, and fellowship fill us and bind us together. Thank you for gathering us together. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, Lord, my rock and my redeemer.  

 

The Cheater's Prayer

Recently I came across something posted by a mocker commenting on Christian athletes praying before a game. He found it hilarious: Don't they know the other side is praying, too? He worked on the assumption that the only subject of a prayer before a game would be victory. He assumed that people who pray are the simplest of simpletons: don't they know that the other team is praying too? He thought he -- clever as he was -- had spotted something that those silly religious people had never considered. Had such an obvious thing never crossed their minds? 

In my experience among Christians, there are certain kinds of prayers that are considered unworthy prayers. There are prayers that are never offered, ones that are presumed to be offensive to God. Examples would be athletes praying to do better in a competition than would be merited by their performance, students praying to do better on a test than would be merited by their preparation, and other things that are in a sense the desire to cheat. At times like that, the prayer itself is generally left un-prayed in the belief that it would be an affront to God's holiness even to ask such a thing. The prayer is left unspoken not on the grounds that a competitor might ask the same thing, but on the grounds that it is unspiritual and unworthy. 

There is an etiquette to prayer not to use prayer in a cheap or self-serving way. Someone might well pray before a test: for calm and focus, for a clear mind. It's the difference between approaching a teacher before the test looking for the answer sheet (cheating), or approaching a teacher before a test looking for the time  and place of that review session (seeking better mastery of the course materials). So one way to recognize a cheater's prayer: Is it looking to gain success without earning it? 

I looked up a sample prayer before a competition, and the first sample I found was this: "Lord, let all glory today be yours and yours alone and let me score, win, lose, etc., in humility and giving all praise to you." That is another way to recognize a cheater's prayer: Is it looking to avoid loss or seek glory for the person praying, or for God? 

Praying "Your will be done" -- how does that affect our own petitions?

Previously, considering unanswered prayers, I wondered: Did God actually consider Abraham's request when he rescued Lot and his family? Or was Abraham simply right from the beginning, "Far be it from You to slay the righteous with the wicked, that the righteous should be as the wicked, far be it from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" God's will was always to stop evil and save the righteous; Abraham did not introduce that thought to God. (It may be that one reason for stopping the evil was to save the righteous.) So it may be more that Abraham knew of God's justice, and God's justice led Abraham's prayer. 

At first glance Abraham's prayer appears unanswered -- Sodom was destroyed. It seems like a technicality that Abraham never asked for Sodom to be spared unconditionally, that he only bargained down to 10 innocents in the city, and there were not 10. But it is more to the point that the innocent were, after all, spared. That was Abraham's original and persistent concern. If Abraham had simply prayed "Your will be done," wouldn't the result have been the same?

It is easy for me to look at some of my own unanswered prayers, to focus on things that I wished differently. But in the end, wasn't the outcome good? When I pray, "Your will be done," doesn't God's will include compassion for the struggling, and healing for the sick, and reconciliation for the estranged, and peace for the troubled? And more. I think that might give me comfort and consolation even if the details of a prayer are not granted, that God's will still encompasses all the good that I wished and longed for. Even if my own plans do not work out, God's plans continue.

Abraham's Great Unanswered Prayer

Every third year about this time, the lectionary brings us to consider the time when Abraham prayed for Sodom. He showed faith in God's goodness, confidence that God would not destroy the righteous along with the wicked. He showed humility in recognizing God's right to take no notice of his request in the matter, "since I am but dust and ash." He showed persistence, "What if there are only 30? 20? 10?" At the end of the day, God did not spare Sodom -- but he did spare Abraham's relative Lot and his family. (We are not told whether Lot was counted as righteous -- so there is room to wonder whether Lot was spared for Abraham's sake or for his own.*) 

Was Abraham's prayer misguided? The Bible never speaks of it as misguided. God mentions no fault in Abraham's prayer: Persistent, humble, faithful -- and not granted. God still valued Abraham, still kept his promises to Abraham, still honored Abraham -- and yet that prayer was not answered. Even though Abraham's request to spare the city was not granted, his request to spare the innocent (or spare his family) was heard. 

I am not sure whether God considered Abraham's request, or whether Abraham's view was right from the beginning: confidence that God would not destroy the righteous along with the wicked. It gave him the boldness to speak. But it may have also meant that our Father in heaven knew what we needed before we asked him.

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* Update: A reader has pointed out that 2 Peter 2:7 calls Lot righteous, so the interpretation of the ancient readers was that Lot was spared for his own sake.

Bless those who curse you, pray for those who persecute you

"Bless those who curse you, pray for those who persecute you" -- Jesus

If ever a nation was in need of prayer, that is our nation today. 

Lord, may we work together with gentleness

And rebuild respect

May we recall your compassion for us

And consider your love for our neighbor

May we put down our zeal to find fault in others

Grant us a Sabbath rest from our own anger

May we see that every fault that can be found

Is nothing but what is common to humankind

And can be found in friend and enemy alike. 

May I extend to those who hate me the same grace that I would to a friend. 

May I bless those who curse me

May I pray for those who persecute me

May I greet those who would turn their backs

If someone aims arrogant words against me

May I win them over without words

May I encourage the timid

And walk the path of faithfulness

May justice and peace be reacquainted

May truth be spoken with love

May those who sow discord find us slow to believe evil of others

May we doubt the evil that we have come to believe

As the evil one is the father of lies

May we forget our enmity and remember our neighbor

May we turn away from the ranks of the Accuser

And weaken the forces of evil by deserting our hatred

Prayers on the themes of peace and love

Today I find myself in search of prayers on the topics of peace and love. I've adapted the first two below from St Therese of Lisieux based on existing English translations; the third I've translated/adapted from St Teresa of Avila ("Nada te turbe").
 

Lord, we launch out from our hearts toward You.
Today, whether we find ourselves in the heights of joy or the ruts of despair,
We are grateful for Your love. 

Lord, I have found my place in the world,
and that place is love.
Beacon Light of love, I know how to reach you.
Grant me the calm and serene peace of the navigator
Who sees the lighthouse that will lead home.

Let nothing disturb me
Let nothing frighten me
Those things will all pass
My Savior remains

Denied prayers in the Bible

The Bible records many cases of answered prayers. But it also records some cases of prayers that were denied.

Abraham prayed that God would spare Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham had family living there, which may have motivated his prayer. He appealed to God to spare the city, confident that the Lord would not destroy the righteous along with the wicked. The Bible records that instead the few righteous were warned to flee. Abraham's relatives were among them.

On the night he was betrayed, Jesus prayed that the cup should pass from him -- generally taken to mean that he should be spared death by crucifixion. If ever a prayer should convince us of Jesus' full participation in our humanity, that is the one. And if ever he had join in the suffering of all that humanity must suffer, then he joined us that night with the devastating refusal of his prayer. After Jesus met an utterly brutal end, God made that right too and raised Jesus from the dead.

In both these cases the prayer was heard. The petitioner was right to think that God was listening, and that God was working in the situation. The one in prayer was even right in their confidence that, because of God's goodness, things would in the end be well again. But that did not mean that they received exactly what they asked.

Order of Confession

P: If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

C: Create in me a clean heart, O God.

I confess to you the things of which I am ashamed.
I confess to you the things for which I wish to make excuses, or would rather hide the truth.
I confess to you the things for which I have blamed others.
I confess my resentment for when I have been wrongfully blamed.
I confess my satisfaction at the downfall of the arrogant.
I confess my gladness when the crooked are caught in their own snares.
I confess my eagerness to hear evil of those I despise.
I confess that I despise those whom you love, and that I wish to justify it.
I confess my willingness to repeat evil tales.
I confess my fondness for complaining or arguing.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

P: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

A mother's prayer

Lord, thank you for (names)

Let them see the good in you, and love you for it, and follow you all their days. May they know your word, and understand the good to which you have called them. May they see the acts of beauty that they are meant to incarnate with their lives, and live lives of beauty that draw those around them to you.

When I pray for patience (not the usual joke)

I found myself praying for patience again this week. It seems I need a lot of it, or don't have as much as I need. It occurred to me that what I'm really praying for is love. Patience comes from somewhere; Christian patience comes from love. If we love someone, we are patient with them. "Love is patient, love is kind ...". If I love someone, I am patient. So when I pray for patience, I am praying for love.

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On the chance that somebody hasn't heard the usual joke about praying for patience, I'll include it here too. It pokes fun at our shallow and self-centered thoughts about building virtue: "Lord, I want patience, and I want it now!"

A mother's prayer for teenagers: May his light shine

Lord, thank you for (name). Thank you for the kindness he has shown to his friends, and for his willingness to walk in the right path even when it is not the easy road. Let his light so shine where he is, that they may see his good works and glorify you.

A mother's prayer for teenagers: Deliver them from evil

Lord, thank you for (names). Deliver them from evil: from those who would harm them or kill them, from those who would trick them or use them. Deliver them from those who would lead them into temptation. May they love you and follow you all their days. May they find you to be their refuge and strength, and may they be safe in your arms. 

Prayer for the lost

Let him see the good in you, and love you for it, and seek it, and follow you all his days. May he see the good in you, and recognize the excellence of your ways; may he set his moral compass by you, and steer a good course by you, and follow you all his days. May he desire the good that is in you, and call himself by your name.

Praying when afraid

Many people seem to have a sense of a big problem looming. With that in mind ...

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Great is your faithfulness, Lord,
And great is your kindness to your people.
Heaven and earth may pass away,
But your word remains forever.

When earthly kingdoms fail,
Your kingdom remains.
When treasures on earth are lost,
When thieves break in and steal
Or moths and rust destroy,
Treasures in heaven remain.

Your blessing rests on the poor
Your favor on those who revere you
And comfort is promised to those who mourn.
Great is your faithfulness, Lord,
And great is your kindness to your people.

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Related posts:

• Essential Bible verses for the overwhelmed
  
• On earth as in heaven: Fear not
  
• Never will I forsake you, says the Lord
  
• God's faithfulness and the troubles of this world

A mother's prayer for teenagers: Use of talents

Lord, thank you for (name). Thank you for the talents and gifts you have given him. May he recognize them and build them. May he know the satisfaction of dedication, of mastering a skill, and the satisfaction of excellence. As you saw in the beginning that what you had made was good, may he also know the delight of recognizing that what he has accomplished is good. May his work serve you and bless others. May he remember humility, and give you the glory. May he love and follow you all his days.

A mother's prayer for teenagers: Fellowship and friendship

Lord, thank you for (name). May he grow in love and friendship; may he excel in kindness and fellowship. May he lead the way in hospitality. May he be blessed with deep and enduring friends who join in him in following you.

A mother's prayer for teenagers: A mature faith

Lord, thank you for (name). May he develop a mature and adult understanding of the faith that seeks and finds answers to its questions. May those hostile to you not succeed in taking advantage of his youth's inexperience and elementary understanding to persuade him that following you is a childish faith to be scorned by adults. May he seek you and find you, and follow you all of his days.

A mother's prayer for teenagers: Love of God and neighbor

Lord, thank you for (names). Let them love the Lord their God with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength. May they desire that love and fan the flames. May they diligently tend it and encourage it to grow, along with love for their neighbors. May they seek and follow you all of their lives.

A mother's prayer for teenagers: Choosing right

Lord, thank you for (name). Give him an understanding of the right, so that he sees the goodness of what is right and desires what is right. May he understand the wisdom of the right path, and see the blessing of the right path. May he love and pursue what is right, and reject what is wrong. May he willingly and deliberately set out to build his life on a strong foundation of what is good. And may he follow you all his days.

A mother's prayer for teenagers: Following Jesus

Lord, thank you for (name). May he look at Jesus and see with his own eyes: may he recognize the good and desire to follow you. May he set out willingly and deliberately to live his life following you for the love of the good that is in you.