the power - and boredom? - of repetition, or why your weird prayer is ok

here's something you may or may not know about me - I will read words written by other people, but I really, really want to cite them. in other words, I don't want people to think words I speak are mine if they're not. it's a quibbling thing and is hardly remarkable at all except that I have to address this quibble whenever I'm asked to read something publicly, like prayers written by others. there are many wonderful prayer books and I'll read out of every one of them if I'm asked... but I want you to know they sprung from someone else's inspiration, not mine. it's probably the result of having a hardcore English teacher at some point who seriously impressed upon me the importance of giving credit where it's rightfully due.

I mention this because I've been thinking about prayer. I grew up in churches in which you almost knew what the words were before they fell out of the mouths of the persons uttering them. you know what I mean. I think sometimes we grow bored with the expected and known, or we think that the same words spoken over and over feel dead. I know I've felt that way. then there are the wild card prayers, when you know the person well enough to know there's no telling what's going to come out. will it be 15 minutes long? will it contain something profoundly awkward that I hope the visitor over there can overlook? in light of these prayer possibilities, a scripted prayer certainly offers fresh words for the rote and some sort of approved content for the renegade, not to mention the fact that it can just be a very nice thing on it's own merit, regardless.

for a moment, though, I want to stick up for repetition. my Grandad died recently, and on our last trip home my Grandma offered the prayer before one of our meals. as she started to say the words, my heart and mind joined in, "Bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies, and our bodies to Thy service to do Thy will. These things we ask in Thy name, Amen." it's what she says. it's what my Grandad said. it's lovely and comforting and holy and I hope it never changes. I feel the same way whenever we say the Lord's prayer at the end of a meeting. there's palpable weight in the same, simple words and thoughts, uttered together by a people who believe there is One with all power to save and change us. I'll use the word again - it's holy.

I'm also feeling a desire to make the case for letting the renegades pray their odd, political, long, who-knows-what prayers. for a really great fleshing out of this idea, please see this post from RHE's blog, 'Blessed are the un-cool'. I can't improve upon it, I can only add that when you're blessed to have a unique church makeup, like mine, and blessed to be a part of a culture that encourages the voices of everyone to be heard, I think I have to accept that sometimes some of those voices will say awkward things, not play by the unspoken 'prayer rules', or not be really good at speaking at all. and that's okay. it's their contribution to the family, and though some awkward moment may make me squirm I'm pretty sure God doesn't give a rip, except for whispering that I should be less critical of my brothers and sisters. on the other hand, we also have people who are such gifted communicators in different ways that we're all blessed teach and learn from one another. I love when S. Walker prays, as happened Sunday. it thrills me. I love to hear my husband pray, because he wasn't always comfortable doing it out loud.

from the blog entry I linked to above, 'the truth is we’re all guilty of thinking we’re too cool for the least of these. Our elitism shows up when we forbid others from contributing art and music because we deem it unworthy of glorifying God, or when we scoot our family an extra foot or two down the pew when the guy with Aspergers sits down. Having helped start a church, I remember hoping that our hip guests wouldn’t be turned off by our less-than-hip guests. For a second I forgot that in church, of all places, those distinctions should disappear.' Letting anyone who will speak, speak their own words, is definitely an exercise in relinquishing control, but where will control lead us?

I have nothing against written prayers. there are loads of great ones that can speak to, minister, comfort, encourage and teach us, and I believe there is definitely space to share them. the Serenity prayer comes to mind. it's really good and every time I say or hear it I wish I said or heard it more often. I do hope, though, that we remember that our prayers are good enough without dressing up or borrowing from others. the authentic prayer of a believer can stand alone.

-m.y.