Loser by a Nose

Do you ever wonder about the stupid things we practice as kids? I don't mean underage drinking or trying to skateboard off our school, those are a given. I mean the stupid traditions we have, especially when it comes to making choices. How many of us have played rock, paper, scissors to decided who does what? Or have flipped a coin? And lord knows we've all done the nose-goes game. You know what bugs me? There is one place that these kind of last person is the loser games should not have a place.

Why does the "loser" pray?

This isn't a deep spiritual question, though I'm sure I could spin it as such. My question is simple. I know that we do this, my youth group has. No one wants to volunteer to pray, so someone starts this game, to the loser goes the responsibility of prayer. Oh no, someone has to talk to their loving God now. How embarrassing.Now the rest can sit back and not worry, pay little attention, and let someone else talk.

I realize that my analysis might be harsh, but I hope it gets my point across. Why are we so afraid to pray? I believe that this fear comes from two problematic mindsets. The first part is that we feel judged by others. I know that "public speaking" isn't a strong point for some people. But should that mean we can't pray in front of our friends? God isn't the one judging us, he knows we might trip over our words, and that we might not be able to articulate what we're trying to say. He's looking at the heart of our prayer. The fear we have comes from other Christians.

My other point is just that. Other Christians put such unreal expectations on prayer. There are so many people who would probably consider themselves "good" at prayer. They know all the things to say, all the right buzz words and fancy titles, flowery praises and stock Christian phrases (something I'll get into later.) The kind of people that leave a mini-sermon in their prayers, and that keep on talking, long after everyone else has nodded off in boredom. There is this proceeding mentality that we need to know exactly how to pray, especially if we're doing it out loud, or else we're bad Christians. These people, these wild expectations and unrealistic prayers are the reason so many people are reluctant to pray in public.

Let's be honest about what prayer is. At its bare bones, prayer is talking to God. It doesn't matter how, how well you speak, what words you use, how elegant your phrases are. All that matters is that you are talking to God, and they two of you converse. I know that I don't pray like so many "Super Christians" that I have known pray. I'll start a prayer with "Yeah God, its me..." because I feel that I can be the most honest and real with God. I think that this is something people need to do in their own lives. Cut through all the Christian crap that we heap onto the foundations our our beliefs. All that matters is having a sincere open prayer. If that comes from the elegant language, awesome, but if it comes from saying "God, today sucked," then let each of them be just as meaningful.

Seriously though, I've nodded off in some people's prayers before. Can we get a time limit on some of those? Please?

Just something to chew on.