I have a good friend who has been praying for me lately while I face off with a rather difficult personal issue. Actually, I have a couple of friends praying for me, but I was emailing one of them in particular today. I began to tell him “thanks for praying for me” when I was struck by how trite this sounds.
It almost sounds as trite as telling someone you’ll be praying for them.
Unfortunately, this is the “polite” vernacular of the Bible belt. We say things like “I’ll be praying for you” as a friendlier way of saying, “I want to acknowledge that what you just said is clearly important to you, though I will likely do nothing to actually help you out.”
Too harsh? That is what typically happens. I’m certain that most of the time when one southerner says to another that they will pray for them, they don’t follow through.
God, how many unprayed-but-promised prayers haven’t even made it past the ceiling of my own bedroom?
And then there’s the other side of the coin, thanking someone for their prayers, which can be little more than the polite way of saying “thanks for nothing.” (Truth be told, there have been times when I’ve thanked someone for their prayers, all the while secretly wishing they had actually done something to help me instead of just well wishing. But I’m sure you’ve never done that.)
I thought about all of this as I was hastily writing an email thank you to my friend and I had the wherewithal to let him know that this thank you, the one I was offering him, was real. It wasn’t one of the trite sort. I meant it.
Can you imagine what our lives would be like if we actually did what we say we’ll do? If we meant it when we said please and thank you? If we were genuine? If the very idea of being trite was foreign to us? Can you even imagine?
I remember, years ago, Rachel and I were newly wed and looking for work and a place to live. We had one month in the one room guest house of a church member in San Antonio, and no prospects on the horizon. I had put the all call out for prayers.
During a weekend in San Antonio, I dropped by to see Trey Finley in Abilene. Walking through his room, I came across a small dry erase board, the kind people use for “notes to self”. Trey had a list about 8 items long. #2 was “Pray for the Smiths, their marriage, their future, their jobs.” It took my breath away.
Ever since then, I make a point of praying for the people I say I’ll be praying for and choosing to believe that they’re praying for me too.
left by Kester on 08.10.2007 at 3:32 pm