Leading today's people into God's presence. Spring 1999

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As I reflect on my pastoral prayers in worship, I must confess some wrongs I have committed in the past. Great is the temptation to keep making them.

Smuggling prayers . If I didn't make a point very well in the sermon, I am tempted to take one more stab at it in the prayer. Sentences beginning "Teach us that … " are probably not voicing what is on the hearts of the people. I must learn to leave the preaching to the sermon.

Systematic theology prayers . We Presbyterians are particularly bad at this. We can't offer a blessing without explaining the doctrine of the Trinity. There is certainly a place in worship for helping the congregation to get the theology right, but prayer isn't that place. I'm learning to avoid the prolegomena and jump right into the truth telling.

Partisan prayers . Every congregation confronts issues about which there are differences of opinion. I have my views, too, but prayer is not the place to lobby for the vote I want on the building program. When Abraham Lincoln was told by a supporter during the Civil War that "God is on our side," he cautioned that it would be better to pray that we are on the side of God. That is what prayer is for—telling God we want what he wants, and asking him to be gracious to our seeking.

Polite prayers. The best prayers I've read are in the Psalms. Sometimes the psalmists are entering God's courts with joy and thanksgiving. Other times they plow right into their anger and laments. They even tell the truth about their anger at God for forsaking them. But my great temptation is to clean up my prayers and not confront God with our honest complaints. I now believe God can handle our anger. So when the congregation is upset about the death of a child, I just tell it ...

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