Unbinding Prayer

Throughout the Unbinding the Gospel process, I began to re-frame or look with new eyes on a number of things - prayer being one, sacrifice being another. 

Sacrifice is a dirty word.  It has been bandied about in the political arena so often as to lose its original meaning. To sacrifice is to give something for the sake of a better cause. It has been twisted to mean that you are forced to relinquish something that is yours. This misunderstanding is timeless however – even Socrates tried to frame sacrifice as a system of bartering between man and the gods.

Sacrifice is a gift. As parents, we sacrifice time, money, and our own desires often for the sake of our children. We give (and we give gladly!) because we believe in the value of our children and are willing to give of what we possess.  Sacrifice is about relationship and what we believe as having value.

Prayer too is about relationship and what we believe as having value.  At its most basic, prayer is a sacrifice of time out of your day to maintain a relationship with God.[“I don’t have time, and besides I don’t think prayer ‘works’”] Prayer is often portrayed merely as a way to influence “outcomes” – and, not surprisingly, they are usually outcomes that are in our personal favor. [“ O Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes-Benz” or “Lord, help me lose 20 pounds”] If we re-frame the idea of prayer as a way of remaining or even growing in a relationship, prayer changes. It becomes about sharing what concerns us, what weighs on our hearts and minds (just as you might do with a close friend or relative) and then listening. [“Oh, maybe I should start an exercise plan and then ask God to give me the strength to stick to it?”]  In the listening is often found a sacrifice. [Oh, if I give up my 2-Starbucks-a-day habit, I could actually afford____?] 

In the Old Testament, the making of a sacrifice - usually an animal or other symbol of one’s wealth, often preceded the act of prayer. The implication was that you were serious enough in your supplication to first make a sacrifice of something. Note that the sacrifice came first.

So what am I willing to sacrifice?

If I pray for improved financial situation, have I first done what I can and have I sought out professional advice to make the best decisions with what I have?

If I pray for an improved relationship with someone, have I first acknowledged my part in how the relationship went awry?

If I pray for more civility in society, have I first stopped posting uncivil comments and pictures on my Facebook page? ;)

But prayer is more than just time spent reflecting on our personal choices. Prayer can be the way that we make sense of the split/tension between our daily life and our faith life. If we want to be God’s hands at work in the world, we need to ask God what he wants us to do it - there’s prayer.  And how we do it - there’s sacrifice. Because it’s not about us then, it’s about God. We sacrifice our ego, our desires, our whims for God’s purpose. This doesn’t mean that we all chuck everything to become missionaries in some far-off place. It does mean that we set aside the behaviors that separate us from others, that we prayerfully consider the priorities of how we “spend” the gifts of time, talents and treasure we have been given, and that we speak of God’s grace and mercy and how they play out in our lives. As David Lose said in a recent blog, “ prayer is also a way of attuning ourselves to God and our shared life”.

God, tune us to be instruments of your grace in our world. Amen

Paul S.