'Hear us, O Lord'

As I was listening to the petitions during the Prayers of the People during church I was struck, not for the first time, by how current and important these petitions are. They ask for justice, for peace, for understanding among peoples. But then what also struck me was the response given by the congregation ‘Hear us, O Lord’.

This reminded me of my friend, who I will call Abigail [and we all have a friend just like her, I’m sure]. Abigail was convinced that when she was driving around a crowded parking lot at the mall, perhaps near Christmas. and a car left just as she approached, that there was divine intervention in that occurrence. Nothing anyone could say to her could, or would, convince her otherwise.

It is this mindset that the response ‘Hear us, O Lord’ to the petitions in the Prayers of the People shows: an expectation of divine intervention.

Now my other friend, Jane, was finding walking difficult and needed to park close to the mall doors. Instead of depending on divine intervention, she got herself a Handicapped permit for her car, so that she would have access to those spots that were already closer to the mall entrances. And she was very thankful to the government agency the made those available. Divine intervention…. well maybe just a bit!

You will most likely be familiar with the quote: God helps those who help themselves. This is not actually found in the Bible but instead originated from Algernon Sydney in 1698 in an article titled Discourses Concerning Government. However if you ask God to help you…say provide clean drinking water for the indigenous people, and do nothing yourself to help, God isn’t helping you, you are asking God to do it all. It is easy to fall into this trap and expect this of God. For instance, if you are looking for job, you might ask God to help you find one, but then you also need to take an active part in that looking. In the words of Dale Partridge, “Do not ask God to guide your footsteps if you’re not willing to move your feet.”

I was pleased to note that the church mentioned above had a basket just inside their front door for donations to the local food pantry. Also the food pantry is referenced periodically on their Facebook page. So when they pray for ‘the hungry’ or ‘the poor’,or ‘for abundant harvests for all to share’, they are also helping by doing something specific.

If everyone taking part in the “Prayers of the People”, offered each Sunday in the churches across this country, took some action, no matter how small, to help make each of the petitions offered a reality, just think what a powerful force for change that would be!!

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