Uncommon Prayer

How do you pray?

Do you pray silently or aloud?  Do you like to be alone or with a group?

And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. - Matthew 6:5-6

The other night at Bible Study, we talked about the Rosary and other prayer beads.  Most of us had been raised on them and our prayer experience was very structured, reciting the familiar prayers we were taught as children.

It wasn't until I was much older, attending retreats, that I discovered unstructured prayer, thought up in the moment, rather than prepared and memorized ahead of time.

I couldn't help think of Jesus' warning against hypocrisy as I stood hand in hand with others as one of the members delivered a long, emotionally charged prayer.

I felt uncomfortable.

It was a far cry from my prayer beads and Novenas.

In church, our prayers are all out of the Book of Common Prayer, and they are beautiful, structured and tame.  There is no emotion when we recite them.

We remain calm and carry on.

One structure I like is the collect, which begins with a praise of God and is followed by a petition and an explanation of what we will do with what God grants for us. 

It is kind of like a proposal or a contract, and when we construct one in a group to recite together, it sounds right. 

There are times when I am asked to pray for someone, and one-on-one I can do that.  And when we end our Bible Study, I will invite someone to close with a prayer, not to put them on the spot, but to give all of us a way to thank God for being with us.

So, sometimes we need to pray in public, and I believe there will be times when our emotions come into play.  But I will continue to follow Jesus' advice and try not to use prayer in a boastful way.

So, let us pray.

Father you have given us the wisdom to hear your Word and to answer; Grant that we will take the time to speak to you, alone and with others; So that we may become more and more comfortable sharing your Word with each other, knowing you are with us always.  Amen.

More to come...