Miles To Go

J.D. Salinger died the week that I preached about praying practical things.  (No, I never prayed that J.D. Salinger would die!  Why would you think that?) 

The text I have been drawing from is the Lord’s Prayer recorded in Matthew chapter six.  Jesus tells his followers to pray for “today our daily bread.”  What about world peace?  What about disaster relief?  What about pandemics?  Jesus was much more down to earth.  Apparently God is not too busy to listen to my trifles. 

J.D. Salinger did not make a big impact on me, but one thing from his book (he only wrote one – right?) stands out.  It is the word “phony.”  Salinger’s over-funded and under-motivated adolescent protagonist hates all things phony.  By the end of the book I began to hate the much-repeated word.  I think part of Salinger’s appeal to the masses is in their common disdain for hypocrites. 

Jesus agrees.  His ranting against hypocrisy is well documented in the Scriptures. 

I started thinking about hypocrisy in relation to my prayers.  Is it possible that I want to pray lofty prayers (not practical ones) because it is easier?  It is much easier to pray for disaster relief in Haiti than it is to pray for the disaster that is sometimes my life.  It is easier to pray for my friends needs than it is to realize my own need.  It is easier to pray for my relatives salvation instead of my own sanctification. 

With that in mind, I have come up with phony list.  See if any of these resonate with you, or add your own.  I am a prayer phony when:

• I keep something from God, as if he doesn’t know already.
• I pray that other people will realize how wrong they are (and how right I am).
• I say that I will pray for someone, then forget to do so. 
• I pray for the performance of professional athletes.
• I pray that my friend realizes the destructive path he is taking (but ignore my own bearings). 
• I pray that my children learn something at church (but fail to pray the same for myself).
• I don’t pray until I’m in public.
• I do not ask for strength to overcome a recurring sin.
• I do not ask for forgiveness daily. 
• I pray for patience (but I really want the problem to just go away).