Teachable Moments

preface
EVERYBODY PRAYS!

Have you noticed? Jesus never bothered to argue or debate the existence of God. He assumed it. Neither did He argue or debate the validity of prayer. He just prayed. Many will disagree, but I believe that even those who do not believe in God will reach out to God at certain times under certain circumstances. Prayer is inevitable.
My all-time favorite television sitcom was All in the Family. Those loveable characters – Archie and Edith Bunker; their daughter, Gloria; and their Polish son-in-law, Michael Stivic (not so affectionately called the Meathead); all of them plus their African American neighbors, the Jefferson's - were the exaggerated caricatures of who we were as a nation during the 1970s. They were the ultimate satire on the generation gap, the gender gap, the education gap, the political gap, the ethnicity gap, and the religion gap. They were a huge precursor of today’s pluralistic divisions.
In my all-time favorite episode, the Bunker family was sitting at the dining table when Archie, as usual, made some outrageously prejudicial comment. Michael, the Meathead, jumped from the table waving his arms in the air and yelled: "Archie, when you say things like that - I thank God I’m an Atheist."
The camera immediately switched to Archie's face and caught that familiar smirk, and then panned to Michael's face which registered his realization of the ultimate self-contradiction: I thank God I’m an atheist. And in that moment, I suspect we learned something important about Norman Lear, the observant yet agnostic Jewish creator of All in the Family.
That self-contradictory statement points to a truth about our human nature: whether one believes in God or not, there are occasions when every person talks to God, as if God exists. Or we talk to ourselves as if we are god.
It seems that we have an innate need to reach out beyond ourselves for something more; to talk privately and confidentially to Someone (even if only talking to ourselves).
There are exhilarating moments in life that create a desire to give thanks to Someone for things undeserved and unexplainable. But to Whom do you express that feeling of gratitude?
There are crisis moments in life when, without prior thought or intention, we cry out to God for help or intervention. But to Whom do you cry out? And unfortunately, there are also tragic times in life when we have the insatiable need to plead on behalf of those we love. But with Whom do you plead?
The renowned Harvard scholar, William James, wrote a famous book over 100 years ago that has stood the test of time. In his book, Varieties of Religious Experience, an early psychological study of religious experience, Dr. James draws the conclusion: "We cannot help praying.”
The need to pray exists regardless of whether you believe humankind created God out of a sense of need or whether you believe along with the writer of Ecclesiastes that the Creator God has “set eternity in the hearts of men.” Even those who are agnostic or atheistic will, in a time of crisis, automatically reach out in prayer.
As the great French mathematician and philosopher, Blaise Pascal, reportedly said: "There is a God-shaped vacuum in every human heart." In times of crisis, we will pray. Even Jesus knew the emotion of this kind of prayer. In the Garden of Gethsemane just before his betrayal and arrest, he prayed fervently, even desperately, to the point of sweating drops of blood, "Let this cup pass from me."
Having debated with myself for many years about the efficacy of prayer to change circumstances and after reading innumerable books on prayer over many years; I have concluded (as others before me) that there is one overwhelmingly valid reason to cultivate a habit of prayer. The supreme argument that we should pray is simply this: Jesus prayed.
Before Jesus ever said anything about how or what to pray, he first demonstrated the priority of prayer in his own life. And if Jesus needed to pray, for whatever reason, then we must need to pray as well. From a pragmatic, practical point of view, praying is a spiritually, emotionally, and physically beneficial practice. It causes one to slow down and think about ultimate things rather than go through life in a trivial way.
One way to think about the life and words of Jesus is this: Jesus came to show us what God is really like and correct all our misconceptions about God. In this brief familiar prayer that we repeat all too casually, Jesus does just that. He reveals what God is really like and how he desires for us to relate to God, because everybody prays.
For Personal Reflection or Group Interaction

How do you respond to the assertion that we cannot help but pray? Do you agree that atheists pray?
Do you believe prayer changes circumstances? Have there been experiences in your life where you believe this has happened?
What do you think Jesus prayed about? Did he pray for others? Did he pray primarily for himself and his mission?