Pray the Cliche

Have you ever stopped to think about what we pray in church?  It's almost as if there is a prescribed way to pray when we our in church.  Somehow, our brain tingles a little bit differently, our vocabulary sounds like the seventh page of the SAT's, and our voice takes on a sort of Shakespearian tone.  Sounds familiar doesn't it?  One thing is for sure when we pray in church...We certainly pray the cliche.  

(clears throat, assumes perfect posture, bows head, and closes eyes)

"Dear Lord, be with us now in these moments because we know, Lord, that where two or three are gathered in Your name, there you are in there midst, Lord.  Just help me to let go and let God.  May I love the sinner  but hate the sin.  Help me to get right so I don't get left.  I mean, I've got to stand for something or I'll fall for anything.  I know you love me just as I am, but too much to leave me there.  Bring a fresh move of Your Spirit so all of us believers can stand in the gap as You raise up a new generation.  Yes, Lord, Your pain is definitely my gain.  Amen." ([re]UNDERSTANDING Prayer by Kyle Lake, pg. xxii)

Ouch.  That really hurts.  Especially since that is exactly what I have done from time to time in my life.  Whenever I am empty and void of true and honest communion with God, I can always pray the cliche.  I keep it in my back pocket in case I need it somewhere.  I can pull out the youth friendly version, the senior adult version, the suit and tie version, and the hurry-pray-before-somone-takes-a-bite-version!

What I have discovered in my up and down prayer life is that simple prayer goes a long way.  Take a look at the Lord's Prayer for instance.  It's about simple everyday needs.  It's about our place before God.  It's also about who God is and what he wants from us.  It is a plea to God to be faithful to his promise.  I have taken time the last few days to move deeper into the Lord's Prayer.  So far, I am stuck on the first two words - "Our Father."  There is so much richness in those two words that I have sat right in the midst of them this past week.  So many verses, emotions, feelings, remembrances have billowed out of my soul this week just in thinking of those two words.  I cannot tell you how much I have prayed those words over and over this past week.  And, I feel like my prayer life has grown tremendously.  It's as if those words of Jesus have now become the very echo of my soul, and they carry me.  Simply awesome!

But the journey to these two words has not been easy.  I've had to leave cliches, my favorite Christian phrases, and my prayer reflexes behind.  What has kept me from this journey?  I think my upbringing has scripted for me what the drama of my prayer life is supposed to be.  I'm supposed to pray at particular times, with particular words, and for particular things.  But this journey has moved me far beyond these lies.  Just like I can act like I'm supposed to for certain situations and people, I can pray like I'm supposed to for certain situations and people.  Somewhere along the way I was fed a lie.  It's a lie that tells me I'm supposed to have everything together before I pray.  I think this is a particularly big struggle for our teens.  Then I found freedom in prayer.  Richard Foster put it this way - "We pray by grace just as we are saved by grace.  God has a relationship with us despite our sinfulness, mixed motives, and selfish nature."

Over this past week, I have laid before God what is in me, not what ought to be in me.  I have learned prayer simply by praying.  I'll put it to you this way.  If you've got kids or have been a kid (are we missing anyone?) then at some point you created some pretty awful artwork.  But when you brought it home, your parents thought it was the greatest thing ever.  They put that junk all over the fridge removing any chance of your house ever being featured in Southern Living.  It was museum worthy to them, especially if it had anything to do with them or said "To: Mom" or "To: Dad," "From: Ross (insert your name or your child's here to make sense of this!)  It was better than anything they had ever seen.  Well if we go back to those first two words, "Our Father," then I suppose we are God's children.  I would imagine I have quite a few awful prayer drawings slapped up on God's fridge.  And because I put his name on them, I know he is a proud Father.  Not to mention I'm sure he's not worried about living anywhere in the southern vicinity, if you catch my drift.

The point is simple.  Simply pray, and pray simply.  Do an experiment with your teens or as a family.  Walk through the Lord's Prayer a couple words a week.  Meditate and talk together in the way Jesus taught us to pray.  I had plans for moving on next week, but I'm not sure I'm past "Our Father."

The Undignified and Unpredictable Worshipper

Stop!  Wherever you are, take the next five seconds off of work, the kids, or your busy schedule.  Stand up, and show off your best dance moves!  No, really, get up and dance like a good Baptist should!

Seems a bit undignified, a little improper for the workplace...and it might be.  But, undignified and unpredictable should be key characteristics of us as worshippers.  Look at the story of David bringing home the ark of the covenant (2 Samuel 6:12-16).  As he worships in an undignified manner, God is certainly pleased.  True worship forgets what others think.  Sometimes, it even makes others uncomfortable.  I mean really, what if people just broke out in dance for God?  I personally would be a bit uncomfortable.  For five seconds Wednesday night I asked the kids to stand and show off their best dance moves.  Some participated.  Others just kind of stood there looking really awkward.  They were too concerned with what others thought.  But in that moment, they were the ones who looked out of place.  I mean if 15 out of the 100 kids are going bananas with their best dance moves, that overshadows the other 85 who are just standing still in place.  Our worship carries this same weight.  True worship doesn't care about others.  It's not concerned with rules and regulations, tempo, or genre.  True worship is shown in undignified love and affection for God.  Or flip to Luke 15 and read the story of the Prodigal Son.  The father bounces out of his rocking chair on the front porch when he sees his son off in the distance.  Instead of waiting for him to return, he runs after him so that he can embrace him ASAP!  A king and a father in ancient culture coming unglued in undignified forms of affection.  That is the essence of the undignified worshipper.  So, now that you've read this go ahead and actually stand up and bust out the most convincing 5 seconds of the water sprinkler ever seen!

True worship isn't just undignified, but it's unpredictable.  It grows out of spontaneous encounters with Christ.  Read Mark 14:1-9.  The woman's worship happens in an unscripted encounter.  She is free to respond to Christ in a way that is deep, is intimate, and unpredictable.  It's a beautiful and gripping scene. We, the church, are God’s bride.  We’re not meant to have a dry and predictable relationship.  It’s a divine romance full of life and energy.  True romance is never predictable.  It cannot contain its instinctive responses to the one it adores.  People in love do lots of crazy things.  They do things that probably embarrass the people around them.


William Barclay says it this way, “Love does not stop to nicely calculate the less or more; loves does not stop to work out how little it can respectably give.  With a kind of divine extravagance, love gives everything it has and never counts the cost.  Calculation is never any part of love.”


Give everything as you worship!  Be an undignified and an unpredictable worshipper.  Embarrass your kids and family and break out in an unscripted and undignified life song that is written and played in response to the God who got up from his seat and chased after you!