As I reflect on my pastoral prayers in worship, I must confess some wrongs I have committed in the past. Great is the temptation to keep making them.
Smuggling prayers. If I didn’t make a point very well in the sermon, I am tempted to take one more stab at it in the prayer. Sentences beginning “Teach us that … ” are probably not voicing what is on the hearts of the people. I must learn to leave the preaching to the sermon.
Systematic theology prayers. We Presbyterians are particularly bad at this. We can’t offer a blessing without explaining the doctrine of the Trinity. There is certainly a place in worship for helping the congregation to get the theology right, but prayer isn’t that place. I’m learning to avoid the prolegomena and jump right into the truth telling.
Partisan prayers. Every congregation confronts issues about which there are differences of opinion. I have my views, too, but prayer is not the place to lobby for the vote I want on the building program. When Abraham Lincoln was told by a supporter during the Civil War that “God is on our side,” he cautioned that it would be better to pray that we are on the side of God. That is what prayer is for—telling God we want what he wants, and asking him to be gracious to our seeking.
Polite prayers. The best prayers I’ve read are in the Psalms. Sometimes the psalmists are entering God’s courts with joy and thanksgiving. Other times they plow right into their anger and laments. They even tell the truth about their anger at God for forsaking them. But my great temptation is to clean up my prayers and not confront God with our honest complaints. I now believe God can handle our anger. So when the congregation is upset about the death of a child, I just tell it to God the way it is.
Interesting prayers. The point of a prayer is not to draw attention to itself, but to lead the people into communion with God. Thus, I am not really affirmed if someone says, “What a nice prayer you had today.” Sometimes my prayer sounds good because I want to show the people that I work hard. But what the congregation needs me to show them is God himself. That can be done better by a simple prayer than by one with too much ornamentation.
Effective prayers. People are aware that they have needs. They are not always aware of the depth of those needs. Some may think they need a new relationship in their lives, when in fact, they need first to find God in their loneliness. Our prayers should help them tell the hard truth that they are afraid to voice on their own. Since I love the members of my congregation, it is tempting just to ask God to give them what they want. But prayer does not harness divine favors. It exposes our bare souls to God.
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