After my last post my Dad sent me a copy of his last sermon. As they say, great minds think alike because a lot of what I wrote dovetailed into what he preached, namely the notion that God should not be seen as a holy pez dispenser that shoots out treats every time we come to him with some minor ache or pain. I think who and what (maybe even how) we pray is as much a reflection on our walk as the words themselves. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a big fan of opening my mouth during corporate prayer. I just don’t have the gift of oration that some others do (and I believe that God hears all prayers both spoken and unspoken). But I think that when we are new Christians, it is perfectly natural to pray for things we see in our every day life, grades, sporting events, traffic, etc. As we progress in our walk with Christ though, I believe our prayers should reflect a similar maturation. Bearing in mind that I am by no means a “good” Christian when it comes to devotions and prayer time, and I’m not trying to show off or give anyone the impression that I have some closer connection with God than anyone else but when I pray I usually do so in three stages. First I will pray for something in my life, usually it is for wisdom and discernment and that I might be a blessing to those around me. Then I’ll pray for my non-Christian friends or anyone else I might come in contact with during the course of the day/week. Finally, I pray for the world in general. For the people of Darfur, for those involved in the human sex slave trade in SE Asia, for those involved in the drug trade in Latin America, and for the world leaders who have the ability to take action on these things.

In some ways I feel strange about writing on a subject like prayer because my faith has been so personal and it just feels odd and formulaic. On the other hand, I think if people changed how they prayed, they would find that it is truly an act of worship and communion more than anything else. Part of what I loved about going to the Compline service at St. Mark’s in Seattle was that it was so refreshing. I would go there and spend maybe the first five or ten minutes of the service in prayer, but then I would just relax and close my eyes and thank God for everything he has done for me, from the fact I have a job and a home and a family to how beautiful of a city Seattle is. I would leave there feeling so refreshed and invigorated that I didn’t go into Mondays on a down note. Tonight, though, it is my prayer that as the emerging church movement moves into the main stream, its ideas on community with God and each other will change the way people view their faith and their relationship with their Creator and Savior. Oh, and yes, the title of this post is a reference to My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

Filed under: life by Jonathan Assink