I’m not staying at the Plaza but...
Jon over at Stuff Christians Like has started a discussion about prayer… it’s a lighthearted conversation about how we begin and end our prayers the same way every single time. He ends his post by asking for readers to tell if they have a signature sign off.
At first I commented:
I am trying to get up the nerve to end my prayers like this:
“Thanks God, you rock!”
As an Army chaplain candidate leading prayers with fellow future chaplains of other military branches, I have decided to end with: “Hooah, Oorah and Amen!”
I only jokingly commented about how I ’should’ end my prayers. Now that the conversation has continued, I’ve thought about it a bit more. I guess I am rather repetitive in my prayers.
I think I start most of my prayers with, “Lord Jesus…” Then a long pause… the kind of pause that means… “Whoa! I’m talkin to God here! Creator of the Universe on line one.”
The next word is usually, “Thank You” Sometimes like, “Thanks for taking my call.” But more often, it’s something like, “Thanks SOO much for letting me pray with my crazy awesome best friend!”
Occasionally, my prayers get a little silly… God’s fun, he doesn’t seem to mind a little humor. I can’t think of a good example. I just remember praying in the car a few months ago and thinking, “Wow God, you’re fun to be with!”
On the opposite side of the emotional coin, I tend to cry a lot lately when I pray… not sure what’s up with that. Actually, I tend to cry a lot period. Remember a year ago when I didn’t cry? Yeh, I got over that. I guess I’m a girl now. I also horde chocolate. What has happened?!
How do I end my prayers?
Not always with “In Jesus Name, Amen.” Sometimes, but not always. I don’t really think that’s necessary when I’ve already addressed him at the beginning and probably multiple times throughout the prayer. Even with a short prayer, [Like, "Thanks for the food!"] it doesn’t seem that necessary to seal it with the In-Jesus-Name-Amen stamp… I don’t know, I just think my God is really, really big and he knows when I’m talking to him. I’m not saying we shouldn’t pray in Jesus’ name. I just think we should do everything in his name…. and if we’re doing something we can’t do in his name… well we shouldn’t be doing it at all.
Ok, back on topic: the prayer sign off.
Sometimes, I don’t know how to end a prayer. Actually, sometimes I don’t really want to stop but I assume the person I’m praying with thinks I should… Sometimes it feels like I’m saying to God, “No you hang up first… no you hang up.” When of course we’re actually supposed to pray without ceasing.
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While I’m on the topic of prayer, I just thought of a funny story I might have forgotten to tell you earlier.
One day last year, I was studying in the noisy student lounge at the seminary. A friend called and was upset about something. I offered to pray with her and decided to go to the prayer chapel so she could hear me better and so that I could have more privacy. As I opened the chapel doors, I looked around to make sure there wasn’t anyone in there. I didn’t want to disturb anyone. Not seeing anyone, I sat down and said to my friend, “Are you there? Can you hear me?” She answered, “yes” and I proceeded to pray for her. As I finished, I opened my eyes and saw a man stand up from behind a pulpit in the corner and walk out of the room. He had been kneeling behind it the whole time. From his perspective, he couldn’t see that I was on the phone. He must have thought I just prayed out loud all the time and began my prayers with, “Hello God, Can you hear me now?” He probably thought I came into the prayer chapel to get a better ’signal.’
And this concludes my midnight ramblings about prayer… until next time,
Hooah, Oorah and Amen!
