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Monday, January 31, 2005
Back in 1987 I moved to Dallas to begin my seminary studies. Like most single guys I chose to live in the dorms to save money, and included in the payment was a meal plan at the cafeteria.
I spent most of my first day moving into my room in the dorm, like all the guys did that day. We helped each other out and joked around and began making some friendships. Some of the older students asked some of us newbies to tag along for dinner, and I was really glad.
Well, the older guys had a tradition of getting to the table and once the last guy filled up the table they would put both their fists on the table and make a "thumbs up" gesture. The last guy to put his thumbs up was going to have to pray for dinner.
The first day, I was that guy.
Ordinarily, this would've been no big deal. But this was different. These were all older seminary students. From everything I had observed during the moving in day, they had authentic walks with Christ that resulted in servant's hearts. They knew Greek and Hebrew and big words like prolegomena and eschatology and I'd even overheard a discussion of progressive dispensationalism during the move-in.
This was going to have to be one of my better prayers. I mean, it was easy to pray out loud in college since most of my friends weren't practicing Christians and wouldn't have known a theologically accurate prayer from a bad one. But this was real pressure.
This prayer would be judged theologically. These guys knew their stuff and knew their God. It would definitely have to be a good prayer.
So it was.
I prayed for not just one or two, but 5 or so attributes of God.
I prayed for the magnificent day.
I prayed for God to develop our friendships through fellowship.
I prayed for our studies for the semester.
I prayed for about 3 minutes.
I measured every word.
I was sure my new friends would be very impressed by my level of spirituality for being 4 years younger than they were.
I was wrong.
Greg, one of the older guys, looked at the long line that was now fully formed at the buffet. Then he looked back at me.
"Nice prayer," he said.
"Thanks."
"Really theologically accurate and thoughtful," he followed up.
"Thanks." (I gave myself mental pats on the back)
"But listen, not so much at breakfast or lunch, but at dinner, the line can get pretty long here in the dining hall and if you're at the end of it, you haven't finished 'firsts' by the time they call 'seconds' and those at the end of the line have to eat salad if they're still hungry after that. Let's try to keep those prayers a bit shorter next time, okay? In fact, you could pretty much just say 'yay God' & 'boo devil' and that'd be fine. We're just thanking Him for the food, alright?"
We both laughed.
But he was jokingly making a point to the younger guy, too.
And it came from Matthew 6: 5: (From The Message) "And when you come before God, don't turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat?"
I had forgotten the whole point.
I had turned the saying of grace into a theatrical production. I cared more about what the men around me thought than talking to God. I was making a show out of my prayer. Hoping to be liked. Hoping to impress. Being prideful.
The whole point was to tell God "thank you" for His provision for us in that meal. Nothing more. Nothing less.
And that's was prayer really is.
Talking to God.
Just the two of you. Sure, sometimes others will listen in. But prayer is nothing more than talking to God.
And if you're doing it simply to impress others, or for any other reason other than developing the relationship between the two of you, then you're like the hypocrites who pray on the street corners looking for attention. And that's all they'll get. That's all we'll get. That's all I got that night at dinner, too.
But start talking to God...when was the last time you did?
We'll be spending two weeks discussing this, so we'll be taking our time going through it, but today, analyze the time you really spend talking to God...maybe write it down in a journal.
Brent 4:17 AM
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