Summer 2001:

As our summer gets into full swing, I came across that poll again. You may have seen it. According to a recent survey, more Americans will pray this week than will go to work!
More Americans will pray this week than will exercise!
78% of all those surveyed say that they pray at least once a week!
Over half – 57% – say they pray every day!
How about you?
How do you stack up?

Prayer seems to be difficult for some people – and like second nature to others.

Over and over again, I find that people for whom prayer is difficult, more often than not, have an arrested concept of God and prayer. Too often folks stick with what they may have learned about God in kindergarten, and have never let their ideas about God grow (as they do with just about everything else!).

Prayer is a faith issue. I still find one of the most useful books to be J.B. Phillips, Your God Is Too Small, wherein he looks at all the different ways people currently view God, and announces that no matter how God is imagined by you, it is not large enough, or encompassing enough, to describe the God of our Scriptures! Human words, human constructs, human imaginings, are simply too inadequate to describe the God who says  "I am who I am!"

Like little children, Rabbi Kushner notes, most adults "confuse God with Santa Claus." So our prayers often consist of constructing lists of complaints, or "I wants". When our wish list remains unfulfilled, some people tend to get upset. Disappointment, anger, misunderstanding, and self-doubt infect the faith-life of too many people.

Still, it must be a basic need. So many people seek help to communicate with God in a variety of ways. Over 1000 retreat centers in this country are set up to instruct people in contemplative prayer. Over 2000 books on prayer are currently in print (more than three times the number of books on sex!)

Most often, God communicates through "a still small voice" – requiring us to settle down, blocking out the barrage of outside noises, being quiet, and listening.

To the pray-er, prayer has profound effect.
Prayer changes things.
A pray-er finds an inner peace.
A pray-er becomes more forgiving.
A pray-er becomes more actively politically.
A pray-er is more content with life.
More importantly, prayer convinces a pray-er that he or she is not alone in facing the trials and tribulations and the joys and celebrations of life as we know it.

Pray-ers soon know that the Power of the Universe accompanies them as they go about the tasks of life. And every once in a while, you can glimpse a revelation of God – usually when you least expect it. And all of life becomes a constant conversation with the Holy. (Remember Tevye in Fiddler On the Roof?) Prayer is living in response to the presence of God in our midst. A monk who teaches people how to pray, says "as long as you know you are praying, you are not praying properly."

Pray for your church this summer:
the sick and infirm,
those who support the ministries here so generously,
those who lead by example,
those who try to do what they can,
all who live lives of faith, and
all who struggle to pray.
We need your help.

Have a good summer, and I’ll see you in church,

Clyde E. Griffith

The Pastor's Pen from The People's Steeple, Summer, 2001