I was just talking to Brian Lenney at church after he opened the service in prayer.
Brian said something like "I hate praying in front of people like that."
To put words in his mouth, the reason is, I think, that it makes him feel like the prayer is scripted. He is talking to his Father in heaven, but also somehow to the Elders, the Congregation, Fuller professors, Pastors. On top of that, there are certain people & things he is urged to pray for, whether or not he knows the people or the situations. Prayer becomes scripted, prayer becomes a production which Brian & everyone else are required to take part in. Prayer in this context is a drama production more than it is prayer.
Brian said something like "I hate praying in front of people like that."
We started talking more about that issue.... In Bonhoeffer's Cost of Discipleship, he talks about the fact that Jesus identifies prayer as dialogue with the Father. Bonhoeffer states that this example of prayer, as well as many others, indicate that prayer should be a discussion between a child and a child's father.
My small group has brought up the idea of "child-like" faith the last couple weeks. We see value in this kind of faith, this kind of discipleship, this kind of Christianity. The hope is that pre-stipulations are lost and innocence is embraced. In a situation where prayer seems prescribed rather than natural discussion, we have to remember that we are like a 5 year-old child talking to our daddy; we have to remember that we are lowly & he is beyond comprehension, magnificent, and perhaps above all these things, listening intently to his child whom he loves and with whom he is well pleased. We have to remember to pray to God with the uncontainable joy that we must have when we begin to think about his loving embrace. I don't know how well I can't put that feeling into words.
Maybe then we can bring back some innocence. Maybe then we can pray.
