“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogue and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men. 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 in praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they thing they will heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”
Matthew 6:5-8
Today marks the eleventh anniversary of the Prayer Team, which began with the first message on February 20, 2015. Thank you to everyone who is a part of this ministry, for your encouragement, your generosity, and most especially for your prayers. When this started eleven years ago, I didn’t think it would grow and continue as it has. I’m thankful to God for the privilege to be able to write to you on a daily basis, and I hope by His grace, to continue this ministry for a long time into the future.
For the past month of so, we’ve been reflecting on the Sermon on the Mount. Beginning on Monday, February 23, we will take a break from this series and focus our Lenten study on the book of Psalms. In our parish of St. John the Baptist in Tampa, where I serve, we are utilizing a Lenten journal that includes a Psalm verse to meditate on each day. We will be reflecting on these verses during Great Lent. A copy of the journal is linked below to this Prayer Team Message. If you’d like to utilize the journal, please feel free to print it out and use it during Great Lent.
Words have power, as we know, and one word change carries a lot of weight. For instance, when a scripture reading is offered during one of our Divine services, whoever is reading the passage (clergy, or reader) says “The reading is from the Holy Gospel according to saint. . ./the reading is from the Epistle of St. Paul to the . . ./The reading of from the book/prophecy of (insert Old Testament book). Notice that the word is not “a”, i.e. “a reading” as if we have options to choose what we’d like to read. We say, “THE reading,” meaning that it is a prescribed reading for that service, which is done anywhere that the service is offered. The Gospel at a wedding is from St. John, the miracle of the wedding of Cana, John 2:1-11. There is no option.
In this passage, Jesus says “When your pray,” (Matthew 6:5) not “if you pray.” Prayer is not a suggestion, but a necessary part of our relationship with the Lord. Prayer was not inaugurated by Christ. The Jews were praying for centuries before Christ. However, the concept of prayer became disfigured. Rather than offering sincere prayer to God, rabbis and temple leaders were standing on the street corners with long fringes on their robes, making a spectacle of their prayer. They were reciting long prayers and imposing long prayers on others, so that prayer became more burdensome than connective with God. Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount, that prayer should be secret and simple. There is no need for self-aggrandization in prayer. Rather we are to be humble in prayer. There is no need for complicated prayers that become burdensome and we lose interest in them. Following this section of Scripture, Christ will introduce the Lord’s Prayer as a simple and consummate prayer.
Orthodoxy has a rich history of prayer and especially corporate prayer. As we are about to enter into Great Lent, the prayers become longer, deeper, more complex, and more beautiful. And with this is a temptation to do all the things Christ warns us not to do in this short section of Scripture.
First, there is the appearance. Visually, our churches change during Great Lent. The colors shift to purple and black, the lights are dimmed. This is important because it sets a mood. The Orthodox worship experience is meant to be sensory, so we see things a little differently during Great Lent. The dark colors reflect mourning over our own sins, not mourning the death of Christ (He is risen, we know how the story ends). We don’t worship the colors or the mood or the mourning. We worship Christ, and the visual appearance of the church is meant to help set up in a more prayerful and repentant mood.
Second, there is the volume of words in the services. The Great Compline service includes over a dozen Psalm readings, and the Pre-Sanctified Liturgy has nearly twenty. There is a temptation to read the Psalms quickly. And while they should be read, not performed with dramatic flair, they should be read prayerfully and not be confused with the announcer at a horserace or an auction. It is hard to pray “Lord, have mercy” forty times without counting on your fingers if you have offered it forty times. There is the temptation to count, rather than pray. And there is the thought that maybe the prayer won’t be accepted unless we get it exactly correct, as if God is holding a clicker counting the number of times “Lord, have mercy” is said and on the fortieth recitation, He clicks and says “heard.” This does not mean we edit our services, but that we offer them prayerfully. We are not checking boxes or reading empty phrases. We are offering powerful words of prayer, for ourselves and for one another.
And third, there is the sincerity of our prayer. If we are coming just to check a box, then the worship and its prayer is rather pointless. To worship, and to pray, is to stand in the presence of God. Prayer is pleasing to God, but we don’t pray for please or appease God. We pray and worship in order to experience God, in order to grow in faith.
As priest who offers so many services, I can attest to the temptation to get caught up in the trappings, the vestments, the performance of the service, and not having the proper disposition of the heart and the proper sincerity. I can also confess that I’m not “into it” at every service I celebrate. Usually the people don’t know that, as I keep the outward form, just the inner disposition isn’t what it is supposed to be. However, I am comforted and motivated by one thing, even when worship isn’t as sincere as it is supposed to be. And that is this: There is a benefit for working out even if you aren’t into it. You burn the same number of calories walking a mile happily or begrudgingly. And as the church Fathers write, if you are at a perfume store for an hour and don’t buy anything, you still come out smelling good. There is a benefit from being in the presence of God. The great benefit comes with the disposition of the heart, where prayer is sincere. Also, one of the things that makes Orthodoxy what it is, is that we have a form for our worship. We don’t worship the form, but the form creates unity, uniformity, predictability and also freedom. We are free because of the form; there are no surprises to what will happen in worship. There is no pressure to create. Rather we follow a form that has centuries of history and universal acceptance. And there is lots of good in that.
Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory of His name; worship the Lord in holy array. The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, upon many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful, the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars, the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox. The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire. The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness, the Lord shales the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord makes the oaks to whirl, and strips the forests bare; and in His temple all cry “Glory!” The Lord sits enthrones over the flood; the Lord sits enthrones as king forever. May the Lord give strength to His people! May the Lord bless His people with peace! Psalm 29
Point to ponder: As we are about to begin Great Lent, consider how many Lenten services you plan to attend.
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