The risk of public prayer

Public prayers are loaded with possibility, and risk.

I have been invited to speak and pray at National Day of Prayer gatherings in the past. The pressure is immense. Will the people agree? (Agreement is important in public prayers.) Will God hear? (The bottom line, right?) Will I be humble or proud in my utterance? (Gut-level, no-fooling-God humility is important in any kind of prayer.) Can I muster something prophetic or profound that will cause a deeper love for God and a more faithful walk with God?

The possibility of offering up transparent, honest words to God that represent the people, and that might be considered by a holy, listening God, is too good for most preachers to pass up.

But the risk of blathering on with petty, politically correct pieties (motherhood, apple pie, world peace) is also too good for most preachers to pass up.

Remember that preacher’s invocation at the Kansas state legislature that is still making the rounds on e-mail? Back in 1996, Wichita pastor Joe Wright delivered a “prayer of repentance” originally written by Louisville, Ky. pastor Bob Russell.

Occasionally, a preacher will hit the nail on the head. (I say this when I agree with what was said.) Colorado’s home school leader Kevin Swanson, who is also a pastor in eastern Colorado, offered a public prayer at the Colorado Right to Life rally on Jan. 22, 2009 at the state capitol. Scroll down to Jan. 22, 2009 on his blog: http://www.generationswithvision.com/blog.aspx

I’ll be watching for more of this man’s words.