Devotees of comedy, as delivered by online streaming services, may have encountered Seinfeld in their browsing. Nine seasons, 180 episodes – a show “about nothing”. Sadly, I count myself amongst those of an “older” generation who waited, week by week, across the nine years of its production for the weekly release of a new episode of this sitcom – one that was very much anchored in its time and place.
“More anything?” “More everything!” Season 4, Episode 12. “The Airport”. This interplay between an airline steward and an exultant Jerry Seinfeld plays out in this episode, one that explores society’s “haves” and “have nots” in the context of airline travel.
What has this got to do with prayer? Isn’t this show the antithesis of humble living in the light of a redemptive faith in Christ? Why the reference?
What does a prayer meeting look like? What does it look like to pray in private? What if a prayer gathering has 3 people, 30 people, 300 people? How seriously do we take the command to “pray continually”? When Jesus responded to the request “teach us to pray”, he shared the prayer we now refer to as the “Lord’s prayer”. Are we convinced of the promise “when two or three are gathered together in prayer, …”? How does your church do its corporate (gathered meeting) prayer? What does it teach about our prayer life, the conversations we have with our God – the creator God, the God of the universe?
1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NIV) “Pray continually”
Luke 11:1 (NIV) “One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
Even in the questions I pose, you can see the church and theological backgrounds I have experienced coming to the fore in the way I am hoping to prompt us to think.
I love it that we are a praying community; it fills me with great delight to know that, every morning, student prayer meetings take place – initiated and run by students, at various locations in the school. I get deep encouragement hearing the prayer narrative of the staff, in their various teams, as they seek to know God’s will in the work they are called to do here – whilst, at the same time, pastorally caring for each other and the families they are engaging with, day in and day out. The call to prayer of parent groups, as we humbly seek to be a community that reflects God’s glory as his people gathered in this part of Melbourne, a Christian community committed to the provision of Christian education for our children. Acts of authenticity, not religiosity, followers of Jesus obeying the command to pray.
But, in a time and place where God has provided abundantly, richly, and seemingly without ceasing; as we witness his blessing in so many ways, in our College life, and in the plans and hopes we have for the future, let’s not fall into the trap of “shopping list praying”? A “More anything? More everything” mentality, as it were. Don’t get me wrong – we should not, must not, limit God’s capacity to act, to provide and to bless. And, being expectant of that is an OK thing to do.
But if acting justly, loving and mercy and walking humbly with our God is part of our DNA, our posture as we pray, whether it be by ourselves, in groups, or as a whole community, should continue to be one where its key characteristics are adoration, confession, thanksgiving and, finally, supplication. In balance, our “shopping list” gets smaller, whilst our sense of blessing gets larger. Thanks for being part of that kind of prayer walk with me.
educating 4 life, too 
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