Earlier this week, my mother texted me a link to a YouTube video, I Ain’t Prayin For That. In it, Christian comedian John Crist jokes about turning down certain prayer requests from friends and family. For example, a friend wants him to pray that he passes his drug test the next day. His sister wants him to pray for her son’s tendonitis in his thumbs from holding the iPad too much. John’s response in each case: “I’m not praying for that. Nuh uh. I’m not putting that up to the God of the universe with my name on it.” Hilarious, right?
It was a funny video that got me thinking about a serious topic. Are there really things we shouldn’t pray for? Perhaps. Turn to p. 394 in the Prayer Book and you’ll find this line in a prayer: “Help us to ask only what accords with your will.” This is a reminder that prayer is a sort of partnership with God. God can inform our prayers by leading us to pray for certain things, people, current events, etc. But I’m not sure we need to worry about praying for the “wrong” thing. I doubt God would grant a prayer request that didn’t accord with God’s will in the first place.
A more important questions is, “What do we shy away from in prayer?” When do we say, “I ain’t praying for that” because to do so would make us too vulnerable — to pain, disappointment, fear, change? Or how about anger? This Sunday’s Gospel is about praying for our enemies after all.
Can you remember a time when you cried out to God in anguish? Anguish carries a component of freedom. It breaks down the barriers of pleasantries with God. It gives us permission to stop obfuscating what we’re after. It makes us stop defending ourselves from the truth. Anguish is a state of accepting that we have nothing but our own desperate request of God. With nothing else left, we become that request.
Lent will be here soon (Ash Wednesday is March 5th), and Lent is a time designated for anguished prayer. That’s the beauty of the liturgical calendar — we are handed seasons of the church year with specific invitations of how to come before God.
If you aren’t experiencing anguish in your own struggles, there is plenty to be anguished about in the world. Or if anguish isn’t the prayer posture you need right now, you can still fill in the blank with whatever you’re reticent about: “I ain’t praying for _____.”
And then do it. Go there. Go there and stay there with a sense of longing for God to act, to heal, to deliver, to transform. If we don’t set our sights on transformation, this world will wear us down. But when we do — when we look to God with trust that God will make a way, break the homeostasis, renew hearts and minds (including our own) — then we will only get stronger in our faith and closer to God’s purposes for our lives.
Blessings on your spiritual journey, and know that I’m praying for you.
Adrian+