Tag Archives: prayer

Saying grace: Giving thanks

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saying_graceFor a few years now, I’ve wondered what sort of blessing Jesus said before eating. This weekend I was listening to some recordings of lessons by Ray Vander Laan, and he talked about that very thing. According to RVL, the Jewish custom is/was not to “bless the food,” but to bless God for having given us the food.

My custom lately has been not to ask for anything when praying at the dinner table. I give thanks. I give thanks for many different things, not just for the food.

The example we have of Jesus was that he gave thanks before eating. The Bible also talks about receiving food with thankfulness. So that’s what I try to do.

Can you think of other examples or teachings from the Bible that would come into play on this subject?

Saying grace: Praying with purpose

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saying_graceA few years ago, I made a decision about praying before eating. I decided that there was a reason why a prayer was said before a meal. It was to pray about the meal. Not about the weather. Not about Aunt Petunia’s gall bladder. It was to pray about the meal.

Now I guess there’s nothing wrong with praying about just about anything at just about any time. Still, it seems like asking a blessing for food should be about asking a blessing for food. Giving thanks for food should be about giving thanks for food.

Am I being too picky? Maybe I should be happy that we are praying at all.

Counseling Secret #2

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listenBack in the late 80’s, I read something that really made me think. I can’t remember if it was in a book by Eugene Peterson or one by Gordon MacDonald. Anyway, the author stated that when someone came to them for counseling, he assumed, until shown otherwise, that the person really wanted help in praying more effectively.

That really stuck with me. I think that many times that is what people really want, even if they aren’t aware of it. They want a closer relationship with God. They may be focused on this, that or the other, but what they really want is the feeling that they can talk to God and he will listen.

It’s a grave mistake to set yourself up as some kind of spiritual guru. Instead, present to the other person the fact that only God can really solve their problems, that you aren’t capable of doing so and the best thing you know to do is help them present their problem to God. Let them see your dependence on God. Help them see that neither you nor any other human is really able to solve their problems, that only God can ultimately take care of things. (It helps, of course, to believe in the power of prayer!)

That’s been a great lesson for me. And a great relief, for it takes the burden of being the world’s problem solver off of my back. I don’t have to be the solution; I just have to point them to the One that can solve anything.

Praying Myself Into Trouble

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trainYesterday, in our bilingual service, one of our college kids was helping with the Lord’s Supper. He spent the summer studying Spanish, but I could tell he was nervous as he led the prayer. He even made a grammar mistake, which he quickly corrected.

Took me back to my first public prayer in Spanish. I’d been in Argentina all of a week. Yep, four days of language classes under my belt. And I was invited to help with the Lord’s Supper. I didn’t have to say a prayer, but was invited to say one before we passed the cup (and it was just one cup, not for doctrinal reasons, but just because that’s what they had). I thought quickly and realized that I knew enough Spanish to say a simple prayer.

Unfortunately, I didn’t stick to a simple “Thank you for this cup, In Jesus’ Name, Amen.” Nope, I decided to express something a little more complex. Something beyond what I really knew how to say. I soon found myself at a point where I didn’t know how to go forward with the prayer.

This was in the little town of Fray Luis Beltrán. The building sat about 50 yards from the train tracks. And at that precise moment, a train went by. A long one. A loud one. One that allowed me to pause my prayer, collect my thoughts… and say “In Jesus’ Name, Amen” when the train was past!

So what about you? Have you ever talked yourself into trouble when praying with someone else or leading a public prayer?

Photo by Kaya Tanyel

Celebrities are people too, Part Two

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fabricio_oberto_encourages_his_teammates_v_ind_102505_560A few months ago, I started using the service Twitter (I’ll write more about that some other time). I discovered that Fabricio Oberto, an NBA player that is from the province of Córdoba in Argentina, publishes on Twitter. I started reading what he writes. (following him, as they say on Twitter)

Not soon after, Fabricio wrote something that wasn’t right. I sent him a message with the right info, and he wrote back, thanking me. “Wow!” I thought, “This NBA player actually wrote to me.”

The Argentine soccer team had a game on Saturday against Colombia. On Saturday morning, Fabricio posted a comment about the game. I sent him a message saying “Go Argentina!” He wrote back saying, “It should be a good game.” Again, I was thrilled. But I was also trying to find the game on TV and couldn’t find it anywhere. So I decided to ask Fabricio. “Channel 457,” he wrote back, “Pay per view.” I was pleased that he was corresponding, but also knew that I couldn’t pay $30 to watch a game. I tried to find the right way to say that to a guy that earns millions playing basketball. He immediately wrote back to tell me the website where I could see the game. Really nice of him. “Wow!” I thought, “This NBA player took the time to help me.”

Yesterday I saw that Fabricio had a heart treatment last week. I knew he’d had heart problems ever since a collision in a game a couple of years ago. I remembered what I wrote a few weeks ago, that celebrities are people too, so I wrote him and said that we would pray for him. He wrote back to say thank you.

If you get a chance, offer a prayer for Fabricio. He seems like a nice guy from a small town in the Córdoba hills. (His dad sells tractor equipment, if I remember right) Interestingly enough, one of his relatives that lives in the city of Córdoba was contacted through Let’s Start Talking and continues to study with Jacquie Mitchell at the church in Córdoba. Go ahead and pray for the whole family. Famous people need Jesus too.