Sunday, July 28, 2002
Sunday, July 28, 2002
Pray without ceasing.
There is a powerful indictment here about the way many of us have come to deal with our
prayer life. Prayer has become a perfunctory exercise. In the words of the Hawaiian lady, there
is no "breath, no life" in our prayers. If it is true, however, that Christ has relieved us of the
burden of being adequate for the calling to which he has called us, it is also true that to be
effective in his service, we must throw our lives upon him. He is the source of our power. If we
neglect our prayer life, we cannot hope to be all he calls us to be.
(1 Thessalonians 5.17
NRSV)
Nels Ferre wrote of a Christian convert from Hawaii who spoke about prayer to a seminary in
America. "Before the missionaries came to Hawaii," she said, "my people used to sit outside
their temples for a long time meditating and preparing themselves before entering. Then they
would virtually creep to the altar to offer their petition and afterward would again sit a long time
outside, this time to 'breathe life' into their prayers. The Christians, when they came, just got
up, uttered a few sentences, said Amen, and were done. For that reason my people called
them 'haolis,' 'without breath,' or those who failed to breathe life into their prayers."
Loving God, show me the way to put breath and life into my prayer time. Amen.
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