When was the last time you prayed? Was it a simple expression of gratitude, “Thank you for the food we are about to eat (without regard to those who are hungry”), or did you make a specific request such as “Please do something about the incurable itch from the fire engine red rash raging in my nether regions?” Or perhaps selfless plea for assistance on behalf of a friend or relative, “Please have my brother-in-law’s Chlamydia test be negative before my sister finds out I was the one who introduced him to Edwina the Contortionist from my Hot Yoga class (I was just trying to help)?” Perhaps the plea was something more prosaic like eradication of the Covid-19 virus, reversal of climate change or (yawn) world peace?
Whatever the contents of the prayer it was undoubtedly asking for something you perceive as so important you beseech God to change his master plan to benefit you. He is all-knowing, all-seeing but just somehow overlooked you in your hour of need. It may be a request that is not so easy to make into a joke; the recovery of a child with a debilitating or life-threatening disease, healthcare for the disenfranchised or the poor or simply sending hope to an individual who has just run out. Although I believe most prayer is incredibly selfish, either for show or to feed an ego that must be sated, I may not know everything; (this is me being self-deprecating to gain your empathy when we all should accept without reservation that I do know everything).
Doesn’t it make sense that if you ask for something the grantor of wishes should somehow be compensated, not in money but in the currency they value? And it is not regular attendance at a group service, a few coins or bills in a collection plate, donating discarded clothing, or helping out at the Spring Fling Gala. It IS living your promises all day, every day, without exception. No hiding behind a few lines written by man, “we are only human, we stray, we are imperfect.” Ahhh, man and his endless rationalizations for bad behavior. It must be a promise kept for better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and in health.
Next time you are imbued with the spirit and offer up a prayer rather than blather on about being grateful for the food you are about to eat, the food that has been provided a minimum of 3 times a day for your entire life, try something more like this:
Dear Lord:
Today I answer your prayer; I will do no harm, be empathetic and show compassion for those around me and seek to help those who are less fortunate and suffering regardless of their location, ethnicity or immigration status. I will tell no lies, commit no acts of transgression, seek to understand and walk in the shoes of others. Today and always I will live the pure essence of __***___. (***fill in the blank: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Festivusia or ?).
AMEN.