Prayer. AND

A voice from an articulate reader:

“Prayer is good.  Prayer must be followed by action 

Pray AND then

Stand up and be heard, take action to demand moral policies

Stand up to those in power who think prayers are enough so they take no action

Stand up to those who resist change, who take lobby money to stay in power

Like the students of school shooting yelled loud and clear:

We want more than your prayers

We want action with sensible laws

Stand up against immoral separation of families 

Stand up and say this is not right

Stand up and get involved

Get off the pew and DO something

Wishing and hoping for ‘everyone’ to pray for a better world is good

In the meantime add an AND to that wish

Do something.  Today. Even if it is small.

Give yourself permission to point out where you see immorality

No matter who you might offend

Speak out loud

I’m pretty sure Jesus would agree

Jesus did something after he prayed

People who stop with prayer aren’t following the full message Jesus brought.”

My response:

No, Jesus didn’t standby and do nothing.   That is absolutely the truth.  And when Jesus lifted, a small loaf of bread and a couple of fish, in thanks to God our provider.  He did it to show us how to trust.  He did it as a teaching moment for those thousands sitting there hungry.   He action of faith got lots of people’s attention.  His message?  Pray, trust, allow God to do what God does best.  Act!

What I can do right now is pray and write.  See I’m becoming lazy too.  Yet, at the same time,  I have never been an activist . Never had much competitive spirit.  Even on the tennis court, I just wanted to play the best way I could, performing each stroke in good form.  What I loved about tennis is not winning but hitting the ball correctly . To me there is nothing more satisfying.

I like what you wrote about the AND to prayer.   However I have a different take on the AND.  However, my first thought this morning, in my quieter mind, was I don’t want to deal with the AND.  In my quieter mind I want to say to you that my request for prayer; is that the faith those prayers offer, prompts God, God‘s Spirit, to move. To move into the situation, being prayed about, and create order out of the chaos.

My quiet mind calls that kind of prayer, trust.  Trust in  a God who is wiser and much more powerful than anything I could possibly do.

All of the yelling, and marching, and posters are good to bring attention to a serious problem. However in order to get action taken on gun control, or immigrant treatment, or trafficking of human bodies. or anything else.   Takes the mighty hand of God.  

Throughout history, from the beginning of creation on, God’s biggest failure has been the design of the human mind. He created us to be good, and loving, and tender with ourselves and with each other.  Yet, all we have to do is look back through history to see that that plan didn’t work out so well.

You see, your cousin has learned the hard way not to try to change somebody else’s mind. I can tell you what I believe. I can live the way I believe I should. It is the only way, that I have found, to coexist with others.  I do that  by loving them and honoring them for who they are and what they think. That doesn’t, in anyway, mean that l like, or approve of, or agree with them.  

When we were children growing up you and I heard  this phrase a lot: “Never talk about religion or politics.”    Right?  

There is a good reason for that old phrase. I think it was because religion and politics (I will add personalities traits) are pretty well established from early on. Personally I have experienced  firsthand  the attempt to correct, you might say,  the theology of those who want to limit God to the human way of thinking. And even though I had studied, throughout seminary,  the uselessness of such an attempt.  I did tried anyway.   And I can tell you that it did not work.  

The possibility of changing someone else’s mind, or philosophy, or personality, or Biblical interpretation, or worldview is basically a waste to time and precious energy.  

Is that a defeatist  attitude?  

Maybe!   

However I would say it is realistic.

So as much as I appreciate the marches and the posters and the energy to protest.  I see them as, I think, you see Prayer.  That is not quite doing the whole job. 

But what prayer does, that demonstrations don’t, is to engage God in the issue or problem.  God has had a lot of experience with the tensions of the human mind. Through the centuries he has somehow learn to conquer evil, that often times comes, from that human mind. And I believe that is why he came in Jesus’ skin.  Once and for all to say: Here’s the way it supposed to be.  Do it, or don’t do it, my way.  Believe me or not. Then deal with the consequences of your choices.

The point of my blog was to get people to invite God into the equation.  Of course you have to realize, and so do I, that there are at lease two factions of thought that could be praying to God.  Those who are Republican and those who are Democrats. Those who are radicals and those who are pacifists. Those who love  violence and bloodshed and those that don’t.   All praying to the same God.   All praying for their way to be done.

So then, God takes all of that different information, and praying, and thinking, and doing, and wanting, and needing, and does it his way.   His way not our way! 

Jesus tells us that when we pray in his name, God will act.  He does not say that the prayer will be acted upon in our favor.  The prayer will be handled by the unfailing wisdom of God who always knows better.