Do you want to pray? That is a very interesting question for me to ponder. And it is relevant. I asked the question last evening in a hospital setting. It was a real question and a serious question. In the situation the answer was affirmative. So I prayed. And it was appreciated. And the moment was past. But it is a moment worth giving some attention.
Do you want to pray? That is for some folks a deeply engaging, poignant moment. It expresses a willingness to open the moment and ourselves to the Divine and to ask that Divinity to come to be present in the moment. That question is tinged with expectation. It is pregnant with potentiality. When you ask to pray, it is a bold request to join another in an adventure of the Spirit.
Do you want to pray? Of course, for some folks that would be a crazy, comical question. For the atheist, it is a nonsensical question. To whom and for what, the atheist might wonder? If there were no God, to whom would a prayer be addressed? It would be futile. There is no One to whom to speak prayer. And whatever you might hope out of prayer would be mere illusion. There is no God to answer whatever prayer you utter. There is no point.
Do you want to pray? I asked the question boldly, although I was pretty confident the answer would be affirmative. And I was prepared to pray. And I did. And it mattered. But I suspect people are hesitant to ask the question, do you want to pray, because so many of us are afraid the answer would be “Yes!” And then we would have to pray!
In contemporary American secular culture, prayer is surely a subject that is likely to cause some unease. Even if we “believe in it,” many of us see it as a private, individual affair to be done in the solitude of our alone time. Publicly, it would be an embarrassment to have to pray. We are afraid of what we would say. We are worried what people would think of us. We worry that praying makes us look silly.
Do you want to pray? If we ask that question seriously, it clearly puts the other person on the spot. What is he or she going to say? No? What happens if I ask that question and the answer is No? I would take that as a serious answer and would respect it.
For me prayer is a deep form of care. When I ask the question, do you want to pray, I am asking for permission to care for someone. I want the other person to know I care. Why else would I ask the question? And since I believe there is a God who also cares, I want to connect to that Spirit and enjoin the Spirit to come to minister to those of us praying.
So if someone does not want prayer, I would respect that. But I do think many, if not most, people find prayer a touching form of care. Is prayer magical? Not in my understanding. Are there guarantees in prayer? Hardly. Is it effective? Most of the time I have no clue. But I don’t see prayer as work…the point is not productivity. The point is connectivity.
And the simple question, do you want to pray, itself is connective. Most people will say, “Yes.” And that Yes cements the connectivity. And that connectivity becomes a conduit to so much more. Prayer invites God into the mix. And that mix becomes a wonderfully potent possibility for all that life can deliver in that moment.
Do you want to pray? I am going to continue looking for opportunities to ask it. And I welcome the question if it were posed to me. It is a powerful question. But it does not get asked very often. I am going to look for more opportunities. Do you want to pray?
Do you want to pray? That is for some folks a deeply engaging, poignant moment. It expresses a willingness to open the moment and ourselves to the Divine and to ask that Divinity to come to be present in the moment. That question is tinged with expectation. It is pregnant with potentiality. When you ask to pray, it is a bold request to join another in an adventure of the Spirit.
Do you want to pray? Of course, for some folks that would be a crazy, comical question. For the atheist, it is a nonsensical question. To whom and for what, the atheist might wonder? If there were no God, to whom would a prayer be addressed? It would be futile. There is no One to whom to speak prayer. And whatever you might hope out of prayer would be mere illusion. There is no God to answer whatever prayer you utter. There is no point.
Do you want to pray? I asked the question boldly, although I was pretty confident the answer would be affirmative. And I was prepared to pray. And I did. And it mattered. But I suspect people are hesitant to ask the question, do you want to pray, because so many of us are afraid the answer would be “Yes!” And then we would have to pray!
In contemporary American secular culture, prayer is surely a subject that is likely to cause some unease. Even if we “believe in it,” many of us see it as a private, individual affair to be done in the solitude of our alone time. Publicly, it would be an embarrassment to have to pray. We are afraid of what we would say. We are worried what people would think of us. We worry that praying makes us look silly.
Do you want to pray? If we ask that question seriously, it clearly puts the other person on the spot. What is he or she going to say? No? What happens if I ask that question and the answer is No? I would take that as a serious answer and would respect it.
For me prayer is a deep form of care. When I ask the question, do you want to pray, I am asking for permission to care for someone. I want the other person to know I care. Why else would I ask the question? And since I believe there is a God who also cares, I want to connect to that Spirit and enjoin the Spirit to come to minister to those of us praying.
So if someone does not want prayer, I would respect that. But I do think many, if not most, people find prayer a touching form of care. Is prayer magical? Not in my understanding. Are there guarantees in prayer? Hardly. Is it effective? Most of the time I have no clue. But I don’t see prayer as work…the point is not productivity. The point is connectivity.
And the simple question, do you want to pray, itself is connective. Most people will say, “Yes.” And that Yes cements the connectivity. And that connectivity becomes a conduit to so much more. Prayer invites God into the mix. And that mix becomes a wonderfully potent possibility for all that life can deliver in that moment.
Do you want to pray? I am going to continue looking for opportunities to ask it. And I welcome the question if it were posed to me. It is a powerful question. But it does not get asked very often. I am going to look for more opportunities. Do you want to pray?
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