Today’s Scripture Reading (June 21, 2016): Psalm 119:145-176
Followers of Islam observe Salat or Muslim prayer five times each day. The times of this prayer are set. Muslims pray at dawn when the glow of the sun begins to be seen in the east. They pray at Midday, or more literally just after the sun reaches its highest point and begins its descent toward the western horizon. The third prayer time is in the middle of the afternoon, a time that is calculated by the length of the shadow cast by a person and for most schools it is the time when the shadow of the person is the same length as that height of the person plus the length of the shadow at noonday prayer. The fourth prayer is at sunset, or the moment when the sun itself completely disappears beneath the horizon and then again at the onset of night or after the sun's glow has completely left the sky. These are obligatory prayer times for every Muslim believer. Years ago, the church I pastored held an English as a Second Language course, and one elderly Muslim man attended the class. He brought with him his prayer mat and the class paused as he left the room to find a solitary place in the church to offer his prayers at the prescribed time.
I have to admit that sometimes I feel jealous of our Muslim friends and their commitment to prayer. It doesn’t matter what is happening or where they are, when prayer time comes, they pray. As Christians, we have the freedom to pray anytime, which we often take to mean anytime that is convenient (there is very little that is convenient in the Muslim Salat times, the times are intrusive into the activities of the day – and a great testimony to the Muslim’s faith and belief in prayer.) But we pray when it is convenient, which, if we are honest, means that there are some days and weeks and months that pass when we simply do not pray at all. We were too busy and we just didn’t have the time.
But Paul’s reminder to us is not that we are to pray and praise when it is convenient, but at all times. Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). Sometimes I wonder if we need to just let those words ring in our minds – always, continually, and in all circumstances. We do not have a time for prayer because we are to be always praying, always praising, always giving thanks to God for what he is doing in our lives – even for what he is doing right now.
The psalmist says that he praises God seven times a day. While this could mean that the psalmist was following a prayer structure that may have been similar to Islamic Salat, it might also mean that the psalmist intends for his reader to understand something that is closer to what Paul was trying to tell the church in Thessalonica. Seven in Hebrew thought is a perfect number and the number of the God who was, and is, and is to come. So when Jesus told his disciples that they should forgive seventy times seven times, he was not saying that our forgiveness is limited to 490 occasions. He was saying that we need to forgive until forgiveness is no longer needed. In the same way, the psalmist might be telling us something similar about prayer. Rejoice always, pray continually, praise in all circumstances or until your prayers and praise is no longer needed. And know that that day will never come.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 120 & 121
No comments:
Post a Comment