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Wednesday, February 02, 2005
There are so many funny movie scenes that deal with prayer.
I think of a scene in Meet The Parents, when Greg Fokker is asked to say grace over dinner. In an effort to impress his future in-laws, he winds up using the biggest words he can and somehow winds up quoting an old hymn and repeats the words "day by day, these things we pray, to see Thee more clearly, to love Thee more dearly, day by day by day. Amen!" His soon to be father-in-law calls his prayer "interesting."
I think of the scene in Christmas Vacation, when Clark Griswold asks his 80 year old aunt to say grace over the meal. She bows her head, waits a long, awkward minute, and then promptly recites the Pledge of Allegiance...to which the entire family repeats before they eat the driest turkey ever served for Christmas dinner.
There's a scene in a Monty Python movie, the meaning of life, in which a priest is in church and prays along the lines of, "God...You are so...BIG! So...INCREDIBLY HUGE! We are all very impressed down here...I can tell You!"
Then there's the scene in the first Vacation movie, when Clark is again asked to say a prayer over his wife's deceased aunt, who they are leaving on the back porch of another relative. It's raining, and Clark starts out well, but eventually winds up using phrases like "we dwelt with You in the land of the Canaanites" and "Lord, we implore you...give her a break." What's funny is that the prayer delivered in anger right after that by his wife is infinitely more heartfelt and sincere.
And that's what is being talked about in verse 7 of Matthew 6: "And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition, as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words."
First of all, there's nothing wrong with long prayers. Jesus prayed a long prayer (see John 17 or Luke 6:12). There's nothing wrong with repeating yourself, either. Jesus did that in Matthew 26: 44. Also, he talked about being persistent in prayer in Luke 18: 1.
What Jesus is trying to stop here is the idea that the longer you stay at it, the more effective you'll be. The pagan culture of the time was commonly using length and repetition of prayer in order to get the attention of their gods. (And, I won't mention it here, but there was a trend in Christian circles not too long ago that bordered on this behavior as well).
The idea is that we should talk to God, from the heart. From our passions. In fact, we'll be talking about that tomorrow. As an example, I'll tell you about one time, at a family Thanksgiving, I was on vacation from seminary during the holiday and was asked to say grace over the meal.
I thanked God that He provided the time for us to get together as a family. I thanked God for the abundance of food He provided for the occasion. I thanked Him for giving us a nice family to love and care for one another. I prayed that we would be aware of His presence during the day, and I prayed that we would give Him glory by how we lived our lives during the day. I meant every one of those things...and it was short.
My mom came up to me afterwards, out of earshot of the others. She asked me what I was learning at that seminary...because I didn't use any impressive words that sounded like I was getting an education of any spiritual value. Sure, I could've fired up some really big words (most of them would start with "omni") but I was apparently mistaken that, at least at Thanksgiving, in front of the rest of the family, I could be myself and talk to God in that fashion.
I also heard a noted Christian speaker (who has done more for the Kingdom than I ever will) once talk about the ineffectiveness of short, spontaneous prayers...saying "If you pray on the run, you pray for help." I remember thinking, "So? What's wrong with that? Isn't that what God wants us to do when we need help? Aren't we supposed to pray without ceasing?"
And I believe that's what Jesus was getting at here in his manifesto. That prayer isn't about using big words nor is it about repeating The Lord's Prayer over and over before football games or bed times.
It's about talking to God. Sharing with Him your hopes, dreams, fears, struggles, victories and everything else in between. Not fancy formulas or mantras...just you and God, Him listening to your heart.
Just start praying to your heavenly Father, whenever, wherever and however...more on that tomorrow.
Brent 4:00 AM
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