When Paulette and I recently went out for pizza, there was a couple together with their daughter seated in a booth across the room from us. They received their food before us, and about half-way through our meal I looked over and noticed that they had finished their meal and had reverently bowed their heads. I was touched.
 

​You know, they say that sometimes in a near death experience your life flashes before your eyes. A similar thing happened to me; after noticing them, many thoughts about prayer flashed before my eyes. Here are the extremely unorganized thoughts that I had. Did they have it right? Maybe we should say a prayer of thanks after our meals? No, we should pray before giving thanks independent of how much we like the food. Probably we should do both (Didn’t Luther speak to this?). Is it too much like the Pharisees to pray in public? Should we ever ask for worldly things? Well yes, the Lord’s Prayer asks for daily bread, but our asking should be in a spirit of gratefulness. On the other hand, I’m really bothered by all the “prosperity gospel” people misusing the prayer of Jabez. Prayers can change the world; an example is Nehemiah’s prayer for the returning exiles from Babylon and the rebuilding of the wall in Jerusalem. Like Nehemiah’s, our prayers should include confession. Sometimes prayers reflect great faith such as Stephen’s, who asked God to receive his spirit and forgive his accusers as he was being stoned to death. Could I ever have that much faith? Finally, I thought that since God is omniscient, prayer must be for the prayer’s benefit and not for God’s; indeed, the very act of praying, by turning our attention to Him, automatically brings us closer to Him.

​Paulette soon noticed my deer in the headlight’s stare and said, “Jim.” I snapped out of it and looked more closely at the booth across the way. I was surprised to see that the couple and daughter were only looking down at their smartphones, which were lying flat on the table. But I still felt blessed by the experience.

​To learn what Jesus told us about how to pray, read Matthew 6:5-15 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Jim

Today’s Reading: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%206:5-15