When You Pray

"But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."

~Matthew 6:6

I've been struggling with the events of a week ago. Especially, I've been struggling with opinions, beliefs, cause and effect, the cultural changes that have taken place in America...

Last week, I posted what I admitted was an opinionated and passionate post about the shooting in Connecticut.

Yesterday I had a conversation with a friend the same age and pretty much the same mind set as me. She's struggling too.

I have seen posts on Facebook on all sides of the various issues that have been brought to the forefront by this incident... arguments for and against gun control... arguments for and against prayer in schools...

A friend of mine posted a very passionate update on Facebook about prayer in schools. I'm sure he won't mind if I quote him. In part, he said: "...are you willing to open it up to Muslim, Jewish, Toaist, Wiccan, Satanist, etc? not likely, you only want "your" prayer said..."

Well, that really bothered me. You know why? Because he's right. Mine IS the only prayer I would want said. I honestly can't even say that I would be okay with just any Christian prayer being said, because I believe that most Christians pray from a position of fear and doubt rather than faith. 

In my own naivete, I envision a perfect world in which everyone would believe as I believe, and pray as I pray, and worship as I worship... oh, sure, there could be slight, subtle differences, but the bulk of it would be the same... certainly the parts that matter. 

Why? Because, like most everyone else, I believe that my way is the right way. 

Now, before you jump in and say that you aren't that way, that you believe there are many paths that lead to God, or that there is no heaven or hell and that it is all just personal belief systems... stop, breathe, and realize that you, too, think that your opinion on the matter is correct.

So, I find myself in a quandary. While I agree that it is our own personal responsibility to feed the spirit and soul and develop a relationship with God, I also believe that as a Christian, it is my responsibility to "Go ye therefore..." And while I can say it was the responsibility of the shooter's mother to train up her son in the way he should go, and it was her responsibility to instill morals in him and, ultimately, it was the shooter's responsibility to make the right choices; I also wonder what is to be done about the gaps in the personal responsibility system.

"I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one."

~Ezekiel 22:30

I think my friend is right. We cannot expect to have corporate prayer in our schools. As Mike Huckabee put it, "You can't legislate matters of the heart." At the same time, I'm not willing to sit back and do nothing and allow those who do not have a God-centered life wreak havoc in the world. 

I want to be one who stands in the gap.

Will you join me?

I have started a Facebook community. It's called A Prayer Closet. I would be thrilled to have you join me. Just click on the link and "Like" that page and I'll know that you are in this with me. Here is my proposition: Maybe we can't have prayer in our schools, but that doesn't prevent us from praying over our schools, our businesses, our communities, our churches, our families, our elected officials, etc.

I will post a prayer focus for the day and encourage everyone to take a few minutes out of their morning to pray. You can do this in the privacy of your own home, or you can meet at a local Starbucks or other coffee shop and pray as a group.

So, what are you waiting for? Come join me by "Liking" A Prayer Closet on Facebook.

I believe in the power of prayer. If God is searching for someone to stand in the gap, I want to be found standing and saying, "Here I am, God. Use me."