what we believe about prayer

my pastor spoke about James chapter 5 verses 13-18 (from NIV)

13Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
17Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

I have often felt conflicted about praying for things and then attributing really selfish outcomes to “God’s work” – not to say that by it happening it was not God’s work because He allowed it to happen. but then you get into all kinds of questions about the will of God – the terminology is escaping me at the moment but you know what i mean – when God ALLOWS things to happen instead of actually DOING them. to a lot of people, it’s the same thing.

so that brings us back to what exactly prayer is and how we treat it. i am always reminded of the parable about the persistent widow. the story always troubles me a bit because i thought about how the implication is we just badger God until He acquieses. really? i mean is that what Jesus was telling us to do?

but then I realized that the story was not necessarily about God giving in but that He wants justice and He wants to give us good things. the story is less about the widow petitioning God but about being persistent with man, stubborn and dismissive as the judge in the story is. but eventually she gets her justice because God is just.

The idea of prayer is that we are asking God for something or at least that’s what we make prayer into. Most religions have this aspect of relating to “God” or whatever Great Source there is. Like it’s tapping into this great resource to get a desired outcome or to gain the power of whatever it is to accomplish great things. The big old rabbit foot or the carefully adhered to superstitious rituals that some religions require to avoid bad luck. I never did get the throwing salt over your shoulder thing.

One of the best explanations I’ve heard, and i am very sorry I can’t remember where I heard or read it at the moment, was that prayer is more for us than for God.  It’s kind of like having that talk with your boss – you both know if it’s going well or not without even talking. But you might have a different opinion of what’s going on, or one of you might be oblivious and not actually know it’s going badly. So you meet and you talk it out and you may discover things that you didn’t know walking into the meeting. And sometimes if you ask for something, information, or help or a day off or whatever, you get it. And sometimes you dont but you get an explanation as to why. Sometimes you get a cold blank stare.

To me, prayer is the ultimate discipline. My mind flits about like it’s doing the jitterbug on crack. To be quiet and meditative is a real chore, and forget about focus. Oh look… Law and Order is on for the billionth time…

I get convicted in prayer. I remember all the things I should not have done or said. I then remember all the things I should have. And then i think about the weight of the world – not the whole world, mind you, as I’ve done that battle and lost – but MY world, the things in my life I am directly responsible for, and feel overwhelmed and totally ill-equipped to face the task.

And I think that’s the point really. At least if you’re a Calvinist who believes it all comes from God through no act or will of our own. And to recognize that state of utter helplessness and hopelessness is the ultimate act of trust and faith. That’s the only way to be in prayer. To speak with an Eternal Omnipotent Being who knows all and commands all. And more than the man behind the curtain shouting into a mic and flicking switches (and badly dressing) God is the fierce Lion who rolls on His back and bids us to touch Him and fall into Him. Yes, I did happen to just watch Chronicles of Narnia again.

Anyway, prayer is complicated and yet simple. It is my statement of current events mixed with editorial and classifieds. It is my report for the day if you will, the only way I really even know what in the heck is going on, because until I have put into those terms out there for real, it’s like I’m only guessing.

Next week the sermon is on James 5:19-20.  I cant wait to hear how he gets this one…

¹⁹My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, ²⁰remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

just say no to everything!

Let’s get real here, ok. Abstinence doesn’t have to be made to look cool. It’s actually pretty freakin awesome.  Making a conscious choice to not knock boots with anybody is commendable and wise and cautious and full of hope and beauty. The trend has become to bash that choice and make it look like that of a naive fool with $@%! for brains. How did that happen? When did we start throwing crap, like little monkeys, at people who choose not to have sex until they get married? Why is it okay to belittle people who make choices at all? Isn’t that the flip side of the same coin that lets us chose to knock boots in the past and still choose such course of action as we wish? Aren’t we fans of choice?

And, speaking of choices, why do I keep writing “knock boots” as my euphemism of choice? Ask my BFF who came up with it. Thanks Sen

 To me, it is quite alarming that we are so quick to turn the whole USS Judgmental battle cruiser onto virgins when it used to be pointed at those with “loose morals.” I suppose that’s just human nature and the vicious cycle of society – the conservatives of today are the liberals of tomorrow. I also suppose that many people on either side of the coin cannot be true supporters of the live and let live mentality because we are too insecure in our decisions and think that the other side makes us look bad. That goes both ways. ahem.

My last significant conversation (not counting numerous virtual ones) about choices came about because a friend of mine had decided to do the artificial insemination thing and we were discussing the pros and cons of being a single mom by choice. We are at a stage of society when this is not only completely possible and viable, it is heralded. I can’t really say definitively yay or nay. I have done my battle with the USS Judgmental and I have conquered. I really honestly dont make choices for other people nor do I have some preset standards of operation for others’ lives. You do what you gotta do and as long as it is not illegal (that’s up to debate though) nor harmful to you or others (also somewhat debatable depending on who or what is getting harmed).

I totally sound like a wuss I’m sure. I have no opinions. I make no claims. I hold no judgments. It’s like I’m a nonperson, a total product of modernism, humanism, nihilism, existentialism, and whatever other isms you wanna throw in. (Ism’s in my opinion are not good.)

I would like to think I am Justice, blind and impartial, open to hearing, slow to measure and dole out. It’s my only real contribution to my world. The only thing I ask in return is that people take the time to present the facts.

And here’s where that gets tricky. People on any side of an argument (and there are always more than 2) can bring what they think are facts to their support.  Too many times people are misquoted, statistics are skewed, politics are masked, and everyone goes home a little bit dumber than they started out to be. Most of the time people come with their preconceived notion and they are just aiming to prove it and support it, come hell or highwater.

Again, like Justice, it is always about the human experience – the personal, individual experience, dictating and morphing the social laws around us. We have a justice system with a big ole bookcase filled with what we are and are not supposed to do. But it comes down to each individual case and how it directly affects those involved. It’s tedious and costly. But as a society, we cannot afford anything less. We cannot make widely sweeping blanket statements like a one size fits all remedy for how to live your life. There are no generalizations without flaws. (Except that one?) And it’s fine to talk on macro levels for the sake of argument and for a starting point, but eventually, the talk has to come down to you and to me.

All this to say that saying no is as valid an option as saying yes. But, while it isn’t the only valid option, bashing it and ripping it apart doesn’t seem to quite make your point either. It will only serve to end the conversation.

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Author’s Note:  I had been asked some time ago to write something up about Abstinence-Only Education. this is not it. But it’s an introduction of sorts. I am working on the sex ed piece and will post it in chunks over the next week or so. Feedback is, as always, very welcome! (I really hate the word chunk and I’m so not sure why I just wrote it.)

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ashes ashes we all fall down

“Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.“

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. where you take a long hard look inside your soul and root out all the deep evil sins lurking just beneath a cool exterior, waiting to pounce at any moment like the creepy man hiding in the bushes, who may or may not be a nice guy to friends and neighbors. Sorry that was a bit of tangent from another blog.

Once a year, people of Jewish faith have a similar type of day, Yom Kippur, where they fast and pray fervently, reflecting on sins and relying on atonement as promised by G-d. Except Yom Kippur comes at the end of 10 days of making amends and starting a new year, while Ash Wednesday is the kick off of 40 days of spiritual renewal leading to the celebration of the Holy Week, Good Friday and Easter. So many holidays – so many opportunities to remember just how much we totally suck.

I’ve said before that I really dig rituals. I think they’re neato. I remember as a kid seeing people walking around with a dirty patch on their foreheads and thinking they were cool. Not that Catholics are cool, just their rituals. Haha just kidding. The Pope is dope, yo.