In Jesus' Name We Pray

When the moderator called on him to ask the invocation this morning, even before he prayed I had a pretty good idea how he would start and I knew for sure how he would end.

No doubt, we are all  familiar with "The Lord's Prayer" and if you're like me you have prayed it hundreds of times.  Did you know that "Our Father who art in Heaven, etc."as recorded in Matthew chapter six  is not really the Lord's Prayer? It's the "Model Prayer."  "The Lord's Prayer" is recorded in John chapter seventeen when Jesus prayed for His disciples and for all of us just before He was arrested."

When someone prays a Christian prayer in a public setting, including government settings which may include people of various faiths, have you heard them say that they were "exercising their First Amendment rights?" The truth is they are violating the First Amendment. The Establishment Clause is an important part of the First Amendment to the Constitution. The Establishment Clause not only specifically states that the US government cannot establish an official state religion, but it goes on to say that the government can't show preference of any one religion over another. The document is very clear about that.  Or another Christian may say, "The United States of America was founded on Christian principles. It is my right  to pray a Christian prayer no matter who it offends."  If you read early American history you will learn that many of the founders were Christians, but the country was not founded on Christianity. The Constitution states the antithesis of that.  As important as the Bible is to millions of Americans and  to many founding fathers, this country was not founded on the Bible as some sort of official document, You can't hold up the Constitution in your left hand, the Holy Bible in your right and claim them both to be American documents. The Constitution is American, the Bible is not.  The Bible is Judeo-Christian.The United States of America was founded by people fleeing state religions and who wanted no part of a state religion, including the Christian religion.

This morning when the moderator asked my friend to pray, I knew that he would begin his prayer with something like "Dear God..."  or "Our Heavenly Father..." or just "Our Father..." and  he did. But I knew for certain that he would end with "in Jesus' name we pray. Amen."  And he did. Here in the buckle of the Bible Belt, no matter if at church, a civic club or the county commission meeting, that's how nearly everyone ends their  prayers.

Many millions of Christians believe  that the Bible contains the literal words of God. Some even say that it is "God breathed", that God told the writers every word to write. Therefore, according to this doctrine, the words of the Bible are perfect in every way. Polls suggest that about 40% of Americans believe that the Bible is the literal Word of God. Whereas, it's easy enough to hold this belief,  it is impossible to practice a literal Bible.     A. J. Jacobs in his The Year of Living Biblically  recounts his year of trying to live the Old Testament literally. The result  is a rather humorous, but eye-opening account of his attempts, Look no further than the Model Prayer to illustrate the point. Jesus, in introducing His Model Prayer,  said, "When you pray. pray like this." And He prayed the prayer that we all know. He did not suggest that we invoke His name at the end.  So if we take these verses literally,  then it seems that there is no place for a prayer that ends with "In Jesus' name we pray."  The point I'm trying to make is to end your prayer with "in Jesus name we pray" if that's meaningful for you, but that's not the way Jesus Himself said to pray when He actually said, "Pray like this." If we're doing what the Bible says literally, shouldn't we pay particular attention to the very words of Jesus? Or can at least 60% of us agree that there's a little wiggle room?

I learned the hard way to write my prayers.  A then moderate Baptist church where I attended developed a relationship with a local synagogue.  When the rabbi came to speak, my best friend who invited him to our church asked me to pray the opening prayer. He asked that it not be an expressly Christian prayer.  I told him that I understood and that I  would be glad to. I had given the prayer very little thought as I had been praying publicly my whole life. As I brought my beautiful prayer to a close, I realized in a panic that I didn't know how to end it.  I actually created a dramatic pause that called everyone's attention to my final words  "In Jesus' name we pray. Amen."  I opened my eyes to a death stare from my friend. He trusted me and I failed.

So do I have a problem with closing a prayer in Jesus' name?  No, not at all.  I have a problem with it in a public setting where people of many faiths or no faith are attending. Why would a Jew or a Hindu at a city council meeting want to hear "In Jesus name we pray"?  They pray quite often, but never in the name of Jesus. Even if it's not unconstitutional, it's disrespectful of other American citizen's beliefs to suggest "we" all pray this way.

So how do I suggest that someone should end their prayer in a non-Christian setting?  How about "We ask these things in Your name. Amen" and leave it at that. Now you've done your civic and religious duty, invoked the name of no particular God, offended no one and remained true to the Constitution of the United States. And most important you haven't violated your own beliefs. With these words "Your" becomes a placeholder for a Deity that anyone in the room can embrace.

In spite of the fact that I prayed that Christian prayer at our church that night, the rabbi invited me to sing at his synagogue.  He taught me "Hine ma tov" 'How good and pleasant it is for the brethren to dwell together in unity."  The rabbi and his congregation were touched by this Southern Baptist singing in Hebrew in their service of worship.  My friend who I had failed said, "Helms, that is the best I've ever heard you sing. You did us proud."  All's well that ends well.