The Shorter Catechism says that prayer is the offering up of our desires unto God, for things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankfulness for his mercies. I don’t expect popes necessarily to conform to this definition precisely, but is it too much to ask why Benedict XVI did not use the name Jesus in his prayer at Ground Zero?
O God of love, compassion, and healing,
look on us, people of many different faiths
and traditions,
who gather today at this site,
the scene of incredible violence and pain.
We ask you in your goodness
to give eternal light and peace
to all who died here—the heroic first-responders:
our fire fighters, police officers,
emergency service workers, and
Port Authority personnel,
along with all the innocent men and women
who were victims of this tragedy
simply because their work or service
brought them here on September 11, 2001.We ask you, in your compassion
to bring healing to those
who, because of their presence here that day,
suffer from injuries and illness.
Heal, too, the pain of still-grieving families
and all who lost loved ones in this tragedy.
Give them strength to continue their lives
with courage and hope.We are mindful as well
of those who suffered death, injury, and loss
on the same day at the Pentagon and in
Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Our hearts are one with theirs
as our prayer embraces their pain and suffering.God of peace, bring your peace to our violent world:
peace in the hearts of all men and women
and peace among the nations of the earth.
Turn to your way of love
those whose hearts and minds
are consumed with hatred.God of understanding,
overwhelmed by the magnitude of this tragedy,
we seek your light and guidance
as we confront such terrible events.
Grant that those whose lives were spared
may live so that the lives lost here
may not have been lost in vain.
Comfort and console us,
strengthen us in hope,
and give us the wisdom and courage
to work tirelessly for a world
where true peace and love reign
among nations and in the hearts of all.
Not to minimize the aura surrounding the pope or the poignancy of 9-11, but I could not help but be reminded in this prayer of the way pastors sometimes feel compelled to name the right parties in a prayer, and so do double duty by lifting up desires to God and ticking off items on a list. It is like when the pastor prays for the Lord’s blessing on the church picnic, this Saturday, at 2:00, in pavilion 7, at County State Park, at the corner of State Road 11 and Township Road. It’s a win-win, a prayer and an announcement.
Old Life 
Funny thoughts about “prayer-announcements.” Or in the case of the pope, a litany of soft, universally acceptable expressions, in the name of no mediator in particular.
It raises the question: can we be too educational in our prayers? Too didactic? Then again, prayer can’t change God but God can use it to change us.
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Dr. Hart,
Do you remember the Republican Convention last year and the Cardinal Dolan “prayer”?
Dolan worked hard to not pray in the name of Jesus and instead demoted Jesus to mere man status like Abraham.
“Almighty God, Father of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jesus, we beg your continued blessings on this sanctuary of freedom, and on all of those who proudly call America home. We ask your benediction upon those yet to be born, and on those who are about to see you at the end of this life. Bless those families whose ancestors arrived on these shores generations ago, as well as those families that have come recently, to build a better future while weaving their lives into the rich tapestry of America.
We lift up to your loving care those afflicted by the recent storms, drought, and fire. We ask for the grace to stand in solidarity with all those who suffer. May we strive to include your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free in the production and prosperity of a people so richly blessed.
O God of wisdom, justice, and might, we ask your guidance for those who govern us, and on those who would govern us: the president, and vice president, the Congress, the Supreme Court, and on all those who seek to serve the common good by seeking public office, especially Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan. Make them all worthy to serve you by serving our country. And help them remember that the only just government is the government that serves its citizens rather than itself.
Almighty God, who gives us the sacred and inalienable gift of life, we thank you as well for the singular gift of liberty. Renew in all of our people a respect for religious freedom in full, that first most cherished freedom. Make us truly free by tethering freedom to truth and ordering freedom to goodness. Help us live our freedom in faith, hope and love, prudently and with justice, courageously and in a spirit of moderation. Enkindle in our hearts a new sense of responsibility for freedom’s cause and make us ever grateful for all those who for more than two centuries have given their lives in freedom’s defense. We commend their noble souls to your eternal care as even now we beg your mighty hand upon our beloved men and women in uniform. May we know the truth of your creation, respecting the laws of nature and nature’s God and not seek to replace it with idols of our own making.
Give us the good sense not to cast aside the boundaries of righteous living you first inscribed on our hearts even before inscribing them on tablets of stone. May you mend our every flaw, confirming our soul in self control, our liberty in law. We pray for all those who seek honest labor as we thank you for the spirit of generosity to those in need [with] which you so richly blessed this nation. We beseech your blessing on all who depart this evening and on all those in every land who seek to conduct their lives in freedom.
Most of all, Almighty God, we thank you for the great gift of our beloved country. For we are indeed one nation under God, and in God we trust. Dear God, bless America, you who live and reign forever and ever. Amen. ”
http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=15425
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And so what about Matthew 6:
“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this: Our Father…”
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Brandon, there is that old line about keep them short and to the point.
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B, I know OPC and Missouri Synod pastors would get in trouble for this. But they don’t have the clerical bling.
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Tim Keller at a public memorial for 9/11 ceremony–: “we know what the answer isn’t. It can’t be that he doesn’t love us.”
mark: One can only hope that the “he” in this sentence does not refer to Jesus Christ. Of course we could ask who the “us” are, but public soundbites are not usually designed for definition or antithesis.
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A minister of the gospel is asked to speak about God in his capacity as a minister of the gospel to an audience of believers and unbelievers in order to provide comfort for their souls…
“For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.”
Hopefully Keller did.
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Westminster Confession chapter 3, first paragraph: “God from all eternity did by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably, ordain whatever comes to pass.” This is not God “allowing”.
The second paragraph: “ Although God knows whatsoever may or can come to pass upon all supposed conditions, yet hath he not decreed anything because he foresaw it as future, or as that which would come to pass upon such conditions.”
Paragraph three of the confession chapter 3: “By the decree of God, for the manifestation of His glory, some men and angels are predestined unto everlasting life and others foreordained to everlasting death.”
For the manifestation of His glory is the “why” Romans 9:13 declares “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” Romans 9:22 — “God, desiring to show His wrath and to make known His power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of His glory for vessels of mercy, which He has prepared beforehand for glory.”
According to the Bible gospel, God does not love all sinners, and God’s love is never conditioned on the sinner. God has ordained evil things to happen to all sinners (elect or non-elect), but the promise of Romans 8:28 is that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.”
To attempt to be “pastoral” with those who have not yet submitted to God’s righteousness revealed in the gospel is to avoid the antithesis Machen found so very necessary.
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Keller was engaged — as Papas Frank and Benny are/were obviously engaged — in marketing and spin. That’s always the temptation of this sort of public exercise which Matthew 6 warns against. At least they can’t be accused of offering pearls to swine. Their offerings are of something of lesser quality.
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I was going to post a comment similar to B’s, but he beat me. Dolan was called on his egregious opening, and tried to improve (I assume) the DNC prayer, saying “Almighty God, father of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, revealed to us so powerfully in your Son, Jesus Christ…”
Of course, Muslims, Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses interpret “son” differently than trinitarian Christians, so it’s still just as bad. And then the whole thing degenerates into a sort of rehashing of the declaration of independence. (And are there lines from “God Bless America” in the RNC “prayer”?)
“
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I’m still trying to figure out how to get my wife’s family to stop praying at restaurants. On one hand it’s a complete violation of Matt. 6, on the other hand………it’s a complete violation of Matt 6 and painfully uncomfortable particularly when one of them goes on for almost two minutes, TWO stinking minutes. I almost converted back to RC after that one.
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Sean, but do they leave a tract with the tip? Ellen Hart did. I’m still recovering.
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Sean, baby steps. Start by invoking the Dutch rule about public prayer over food: no utensils, no prayer.
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I find myself these days to be quite a pharisee against the pharisees who pray in public. I don’t do it, not even where they have real spoons and forks. But my resentment at my mom’s exercise of Christian liberty (ie, she both prays and tracts) is perhaps some kind of reverse legalism.
There is maybe no recovery but only more ways to be a pharisee. But on a less pessimistic note, at least my mom doesn’t attend public political ceremonies.
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The next time they ask me, I’m gonna break out: “bless us o lord for these thy gifts which we are about to receive………….” it’s like 8 seconds. At that speed hopefully no one will notice. Of course, then pop-in-law will double down on the whole “well, you already wet hand babies, where’s your rosary beads?” To which the only response is; “I don’t know, your daughter had them last I saw”
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An RCUS guy joined our church recently. He is violently against public meal prayer thanks to fundy in-laws. He’s a welcome change in our flock. I prefer to hang with him. He used fly A-10 Warthogs. How cool is that?
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I remember as a kid my Grandpa was praying for the Thanksgiving meal for what seemed like an eternity when my uncle said “Amen!” right in the middle of the the prayer and brought it to an abrupt end. I’m pretty sure everyone was more blessed by the “Amen” than the prayer itself.
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If the prayer is just for those around the table, what difference does it make? Unless the people so praying are trying to “get noticed,” they are quite literally minding their own business, and not disturbing anyone.
Compare that to the table on the other side of the room, with the guys f-bombing and G_D_ing and J.C.ing loud enough to be heard over every other conversation. Who is being obnoxious? Who is looking for attention?
If I’d like to be left alone and just say a short Grace–like I do under every other circumstance–to my eye it shows a bit too much self-consciousness worrying about Mt.6 (really? it’s phariseeism even without the standing up and the theatrics?) or about weirding out some dude who doesn’t have anything better to do than monitor the idiosyncrasies of other patrons.
M.Horton once said he’d order a drink from a waitress as a Christian witness, to counter a pharisee at the next table who loudly proclaimed his Christianity by feigning offense that he was even offered the opportunity to purchase. So if the waitress accidentally sees me with my head bowed, or (God-forbid) hears a word or two of prayer, is that more akin to the Horton’s witness, or the other guy’s?
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From Ken Burns’ “Prohibition”: “Lutherans pray in secret and drink in public; Baptists pray in public and drink in secret.” Ding.
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@B —
In a year where the Republicans lost double digits among Hispanics who went from disliking them to detesting them, lost ground among Blacks (a true accomplishment given how little was left to lose), lost huge amounts of ground among Asians, lost ground among unmarried women… Mitt Romney did way better with Jews than John McCain and certainly George W Bush did.
Give credit where credit was due. That was one group for whom that sort of pandering paid off.
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Marsh, two minutes! Two. Count them, one one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand………Two minutes! It has always struck me as grandstanding, ALWAYS. It’s always struck me as self-righteous. It’s almost always rude to those waiting on you, and how does it in ANY way reflect the instruction of Matt 6? Including and particularly in secret. It was like in Mass when the old bitties would be a full second and a half behind everyone else during the responsorials. It’s either self-righteous or schlock. Neither reflect the sincerity of faith being displayed by praying in secret and having regard for those around you.
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Sean, maybe you’re forgetting all of Jesus’ public prayers, even for meals.
Mt 14:19
“Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.”
Certainly brevity is the key but not so sure “public” prayers are still entirely ruled out. Maybe we don’t need to all hold hands, bow our heads and close our eyes – but a simple, “Lord, bless this food” would be a better way of approach
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Katy – I remember the DNC prayer too…it is good for the world to see the RCs true colors every once in a while. Reminds me of the most recent pope’s teaching on universalism and the god of our own consciences bringing everyone (“even atheists father? yes, even atheists”) to Heaven.
On prayer at restaurants-
I am not necessarily in disagreement with the line of thought here but I am trying to understand the argument better. I would think Matthew 6 might pertain more to dinners with multiple people where most wouldn’t pray. Praying with family in a private dinner at a public place seems to be different. Normally when I am involved in such an occasion, it is done quickly and quietly without desire to draw attention, but rather, simply the desire to thank the giver of all good gifts, spiritual and physical, for the food He has given to us. (In case Cardinal Dolan or the Pope are reading – “He” = Jesus Christ)
In the multiple accounts of the feeding of the 5,000 and the feeding of the 4,000 – many of whom were only there for a sign and some were likely Pharisees – Christ publically blesses the food. Christ also prays out loud in the ears of many/most unbelievers while on the cross and Stephen prays out loud publically as he is being stoned (Acts 7).
So it seems: 1) All prayer done for the gaining of personal praise by an audience is wrong; 2) Not all prayer with an audience is done for personal praise; and 3) Therefore, not all prayer with an audience is wrong and in violation of Matthew 6.
I also wonder how far this idea gets taken. Should you carry a Bible into a public place to study or prepare a sermon or Sunday school? Can you talk about Christ in public?
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Marsh, I don’t think anyone here is saying they don’t bow their head and pray. They just do so in silence.
I’m also sensing no one leaves a tract.
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Sean,
It’s not everybody. A blanket condemnation is as ridiculous as the two-minute, make-the-server-wait scene. What about Paul’s admonition to “pray without ceasing?” Will you pray in public when they are throwing you to the lions? Whoops, better not do it now, all eyes are on me… Inconsideration is just that, and it has many forms, some of them crass, some of them pious.
Believe it or not, not everyone or every group who is caught praying in a public place is looking for attention, ala the Pharisee. The silly prayer-at-the-flagpole by misguided schoolkids (child-abuse?) thing is about notice. Equally silly is an adult takeover at the post-office, blocking the sidewalk and entrance for even a couple minutes. It’s an offense (truly!) when it is about exercising power over other people.
But if we’re sitting in a booth, and the waitress is gone, why should I introduce a new rule to the kiddos about only praying when there are only “our kind” within ear-or-eyeshot? “Abusus non tollit usum.” The biblical admonition about not creating offense has nothing to do with annoying people with strong opinions, but about leading a weak person into doing something deep-down he thinks is sinful. So, I really don’t care what the Christian or the non-Christian spying on my liberty is thinking about us, sitting in a roomful of people in their own little worlds.
You certainly shouldn’t take this defense as a recommendation for you to adopt the habit. Especially as it is such a stumbling block. It just seems to me that the true Christian spirit takes a live-and-let-live approach; and reserves dealing the pharisee card to those people who are greedy for recognition as holy-rollers.
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Marsh, the point might be that to wear faith on the sleeve is actually to treat its subject with something less than dignity. It’s like how PDA can degrade more than bolster human relationships–sleeve worn faith degrades the spiritual relationship.
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Nate, Jesus blessing the food for the crowd gathered to see and hear him is gonna be a stretch for me on the restaurant or any public venue not gathered for that particular purpose. I watched it done before I was a prot and after, and it still hits me the same way; it’s primarily for show. Even well-intentioned witness show, more similar to the football prayer huddle and gathering around the flag pole at school, etc. I’m not vexed over the ‘quickly, quietly and not desiring to draw attention’ type. But, I’ll report back to you on how my eight second version goes down………………
Marsh, I’m all for liberty on the issue. I’m just relaying how this generally goes down and what it looks and acts and functions as, and I’m still not finding where Matt 6 is being given anything but lip service and “we’re not culturally like the pharisees.” Also, I’m not sure why it would be necessarily adverse to teach the kiddos modesty and sincerity in prayer with one of those hallmarks, at least according to Matt 6, keeping prayer out of the public eye, in secret even, with a promise attached to it. Apparently our hypocrisy is smart enough to dress up as sincerity and witness, and Jesus seems to be giving direction on how to undress it.
Darryl, the in-laws don’t do tracks just long prayers in public to embarrass me. I started laughing when we hit the one minute mark, the nieces and nephews thought it was funny too. Even pop-in-law chuckled, he recovered quickly though.
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But for the one who is overly concerned or even fearful of what others may think of him if he says a prayer in public, asking the Lord’s blessing before eating may be an act of faithfulness akin to:
“So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”
A lot of this has to do with the motive of the heart. So it might be premature to blanket label any public prayer before a meal as ‘wearing one’s faith on their sleeve.’ A little wisdom can go a long way. In some situations prayer may be inappropriate. In others not. And as sean points out – if you are going to pray keep it short and sweet! Don’t lose your liberty and hang close to its companion – prudence.
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Anyone who prays two-minute table prayers clearly doesn’t have very small (hungry) children, or wants to tempt them to disobey (3-year-old man-cubs are weaker brethren when it comes to self-control).
B, those prayers weren’t especially RC. Joel Olsteen, Pat Robertson, Joyce Meyers, or Glen Beck could have prayed them. Dolan was praying to the god of civil religion, who is quite ecumenical in America.
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I always thought we prayed in public because of fear that somebody we know might see us not pray.
I think about leaving a copy of Gary Long’s Definite Atonement instead of a tip, but my wife always forbids my going to the car for the book, and then doubles the tip. And mutual me submits…
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Katy – Good point, I agree.
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Sean, all I know is if you ever come over for dinner, I’m praying really long and loud.
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mcmark: I always thought we prayed in public because of fear that somebody we know might see us not pray.
Come on, you know that’s only in baptist circles… 😉
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Jack, but if refraining from public displays of affection with my wife isn’t a function of being ashamed of her but rather of wanting to keep things dignified, then likewise refraining from wearing my faith on my sleeve isn’t a function of being ashamed of Jesus but rather of wanting to treat him more like my Lord than my bud.
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Nate, as I’m obedient to our Lord and, unlike the Pharisee, our father rewards me, I will pray that even you would not continue to be immune to our Lord’s leading and learn to pray in secret. And seeing as the prayer of a righteous man availeth much, I’m confident, in the Lord, that even one such as yourself will turn from your errant ways. Amen.
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Zrim, you’re reasoning against something I’m not proposing nor defending. I’m just saying it’s not always so black and white. I have lunch (at a restaurant) regularly with my 88 year old elder who has been a faithful churhman in OPC for over 45 years. When he asks if I would pray before we eat, how should I respond?
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thank God I am not like that pharisee….So I will be getting paid.
Of course not in strict justice. But sorta in proportion to my not letting my right hand know what my left hand is doing….
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Jack, respond as you please. Sorry if I misread–sounded like you were saying that those who choose to refrain are ashamed. Just wanted to clarify that some may have another reason to refrain.
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Jack,
You listen to that elder. He better still be teaching Sunday School (I ran into him, not your pastor, at GA). I miss your church…
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That ‘elder’ elder has my ear and my heart. As you know, he’s a good man. Although not teaching Sunday School at present he is always about that which would edify the the church. We need more men like him…
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Zrim… Commenting on blogs in inherently an invitation to misunderstanding another. Been there. My disposition, when it comes to praying publically at meals, is to be a refrainer. I don’t know if that is good or bad. Just is, I guess. If you only knew my background (from the seventies) when it came to restaurants and public prayer, i.e. with other Christians. Don’t imagine. You have no idea…
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More pressing duties, or for good reason, for sure. Thanks for indulging my nostalgia (emoticon). Later.
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He didn’t invoke Jesus’ name because he didn’t want to offend anyone and he was praying to the god on the dollar bill.
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Darryl — you all may find this interesting:
http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2013/09/pope-francis-vs-pope-benedict.html
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John, thanks for that. Again your Opus Dei experience may have been different from mine, but it has been fascinating to watch and read the traditionalists who on one hand argue for the finality of papal authority as a balm that the schismatic protestants lack but then as you read through the parsing of papal decisions, decrees and actions you actually have almost as many interpretations amongst the priestly class as you do priests and lay interposing their understandings. I bring this up because this is the environment I was raised in post Vat II. There have always been divergent and developing interpretations of meaning and practice in RC which is why the whole interpretive paradigm and now truncated ‘principled distinction’ from the prot-catholic apologists always struck me as foreign to the tradition and out of step with practice, much less Vat II. Anyway, I’ve done more RC reading in the past year than I have in the past twenty years. Looks like I missed the conservative renaissance but re-engaged just in time for the Vat II pushback.
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Sean, I’ve really benefitted from your participation as well. It’s interesting to me to remember back to the times when the priest felt it necessary to explain the “changes” that were coming, and again, to go back and read some of the “reason why” kinds of documents.
It’s also interesting to see all of this happening. Francis may have a smiley face, but he’s got an iron fist in a velvet glove, and he’s shown he’s not afraid to use it.
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It’s my practice to show God that I’m thankful for food by eating it quickly and silently. Deeds, not creeds.
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McMark says: “According to the Bible gospel, God does not love all sinners, and God’s love is never conditioned on the sinner.”
Me: That is flat out wrong. God says he loved all of Israel, and was a loving husband to them, YET he only exercised a saving love for the minority. So you have misread Romans 9 unless you want to call God a liar in the old testament.
God loves all men in some ways! But God loves some men in all ways. Does this mean that God’s love is fraudulent for those who are reprobate? Was God just kidding when he said he loved Israel? How about God sparing Nineveh? Are you saying that God hated Nineveh, or loved them? Remember none of them were even in the covenant of grace!
What you are failing to consider, is that you are finite, and you can’t comprehend how God could love someone and yet not exercise his saving love, yet if you are going to do justice to all of Scripture it becomes necessary. His ways are higher than our ways.
Really McMark, you keep making the same rookie Calvinist mistake over and over again with saying that God only loves his elect. If you bothered to read the old testament you would see that God spared a nation because they were off spring of Esau hundreds of years after Esau died, you know, the guy you *thought* God only hated.
Why would God command us to love our enemies, if that didn’t reflect his character. Doesn’t God say he takes no pleasure in punishing the wicked?
You can’t take one verse in the Bible, and ignore all the other verses that teach the exact opposite of what you call the gospel. God loves all men in some ways!
P.S. It sounds like you could learn a thing or two from your Mom, she sounds like an upbeat sweet women, who enjoys spreading good seed, while you sound like a dour stick in the mud saying “if they’re the elect, then they will be saved, so I don’t need not do a darn thing”. Who was more evangelistic than Paul? Yet he said he loved his country men the Jews, so much that he wished he would be cursed for there sake. You know, the same Jews he said were NOT the elect, in Romans 9 no less! Did Paul take your attitude?
Thank God he did not!
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Guys didn’t Jesus give thanks before he ate?
And isn’t he our main example?
Once again, I think this is a *heart* issue. If we are dependent on God like we should be, and we are walking by faith, we see him as our life source, and giving him thanks is only natural. We just shouldn’t make an ostentatious show of it.
It’s a heart issue.
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