Placebo Prayers
The assignment from our Sunday School teacher was to memorize the Lord’s Prayer. She wanted us to be able to recite it together in class by the end of the month. So word by word, line by line my parents went over it with my brother and I at home in preparation for our class. We practiced. First, my mom or dad would say one line and we’d immediately repeat after them. Then again. And again. Until we were familiar enough with it to state it on our own. Then we’d move on to the next line and repeat the process. My little elementary-aged brain was determined to learn each word by heart. And soon I did. I was so confident, in fact, that when the time came to recite it as a class, I belted it out at the top of my lungs.
Afterwards, I was so enthralled with my newfound information, I’d randomly start reciting it in various places outside of church. It didn’t matter where. Because at that age, those words to me were no more than…well…a recital. Simply repeating what I heard my parents say. In my childlike understanding, those words could just as easily have been lyrics to my favorite song or the words to a well-known nursery rhyme. They just so happened to be a passage of Scripture. A prayer nonetheless.
I fear that that’s what prayer has become for many Christians today. Familiar words spoken in unison, but devoid of any substantive meaning or intent. Or the same words and series of phrases repeated so many times that our minds can literally remain on autopilot while we utter them.
Placebo Prayers.
Prayers that look like the real thing. Bent knees, bowed heads, cupped hands.
Prayers that sound like to the real thing. Our Father who is in Heaven… Thank You for this food we are about to receive… Lord, bless me today…
Prayers that can even make the person praying them feel like they’ve touched heaven.
But just like a medical placebo has the appearance of a real medication, but lacks any active ingredient to address an illness, placebo prayers may look, sound, and feel authentic, but lack the active ingredient that characterizes legitimate prayer: effectiveness.
Are Your Prayers Boring God?
Do your prayers make God yawn because they are the same prayers you have prayed since you started praying?
It wasn’t until recently that I noticed this pattern in my own life with regard to “saying grace”, a specific prayer prior to meals. I had graduated from the preschool prayer, “God is great. God is good. Let us thank Him for our food.” But not by much.
Having heard my dad say grace similar to the following, I adopted it. “Thank You, Lord, for this food I am about to receive for the nourishment of my body and the appeasement of my hunger. In Jesus’ name. Amen.” For decades that became the “prayer” I said before eating.
Anything inherently wrong with that? Not necessarily.
But, having said that same prayer thousands of times over 25+ years, my brain didn’t even have to engage anymore as I mouthed the words. Nor did I really think about what I was saying most times. Over time, those words morphed from a true prayer of thanksgiving to God for the food to simply a pre-meal ritual.
But with all of God’s goodness in providing meals every day…several times a day…
With all of God’s faithfulness in keeping His word to supply our daily bread…
With all of the new mercies He gives day after day…
Doesn’t He deserve a fresh praise with each new meal?
Hasn’t God earned the effort it takes for us to consider the process involved in getting the food to us: the seed He created, the rain He sends, the sunshine He provides, the pests He prevents, the farmer who harvests it, the local grocery store who acquires it, the money from the job He supplies to purchase it, the myriad of ways available to prepare it, the ability to enjoy it…
The list could go on and on. He is a living God who doesn’t skimp on His promises. Neither should our thanksgiving to Him resemble day- (or decade-) old bread.
Ritual vs. Relational
Imagine your response if your spouse, best friend, or coworker tells you the exact same story they told you yesterday about a situation that happened at work. She uses the identical word choice, formulating the exact sentences, in the same order she relayed it before. You might be polite and listen the second time. But if the next day, she came again conveying the same exact series of events, you’d start to consider if she was experiencing memory loss. Perhaps you’d stop her mid-sentence and remind her that she already told you this story twice before. Unless there’s a resolution to the story or something new to add, I doubt you’d want to repeatedly listen to the same narrative day after day. Surely, something new happened today. Surely a different problem came up today. Surely, something else noteworthy occurred today. Tell me about that, you’d say.
Why is it we give our personal relationships more vibrancy and variety than we do the Lord, our God? He gets pre-planned conversations or rehearsed monologues that even put us to sleep while we’re saying them. Just think about it. If you were on the receiving end of your current conversations with God, would you remain interested? Could you disengage your listening because the content is unchanged from the last 5 years? Surely that’s not prayer.
It’s very poignant that prior to what’s considered by so many as THE gold standard prayer to recite in Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus would first teach what not to do when communicating with God.
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Don’t use vain or meaningless repetitions in prayer. God is not uninformed or hard of hearing. He already knows what we have need of before we ask anything (Matthew 6:8). The same can be said of repeating the exact same prayers day in and day out. Vain repetitions. Empty phrases. Rituals instead of cultivating a relationship.
We are not communicating with a monument or talking to a dead tree stump. We have open access to the one true God, who is very much alive and in control, and with Whom nothing is impossible. Why waste that privilege and those opportunities by telling Him something we told Him yesterday, in precisely the same way we told Him last week, from the memorized “prayers” we learned last decade.
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Pray like this. Jesus never intended for this notable prayer to be THE ONLY prayer we consistently pray as if there were no other prayers to be prayed. In Matthew 6:9, Jesus said, “Pray like this” (emphasis added). The Lord’s Prayer (or more appropriately, the Model Prayer) was to be a template, a pattern, an example, detailing the components that could be found in effective prayer.
Effective Prayer
What is effective prayer? Ephesians 4:29 tells us, “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.” And although this verse is not directly referring to prayer, it does give guidance to the words we speak, which can be applicable in prayer.
Our prayers should be:
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Intentional: Let your words reflect clear intent. Tell God why you’re coming into His presence. Is it to give Him thanks? To ask for forgiveness? To request guidance or wisdom? To address a need? In the same way you’d identify why you’re in your physician’s office for help, be upfront and clear about why you’re calling on His name.
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Specific: Don’t be vague or general in prayer. Be purposeful. As Ephesians 4:29 conveys, address the need of the moment. If we review the prayers detailed in the Bible, we’d observe each one had a defined intent. There were no general “Lord, bless me today” prayers, but specific requests for a son, deliverance from bondage, guidance in battles, healing from a sickness, directions on how to pray, and forgiveness of sins. And each specific prayer received a specific response or action from God.
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Edifying: Edify means to lift up, build up, or benefit. Prayers are foremost designed to build up the character of God. When we’re reminded of His strength, might, power, and position, any problem we face pales in comparison. So our words in prayer should elevate our view of God, so we get a proper view of our problems. Yes, tell God about your big problems, but much more, tell your problems about your big God. Our prayers should also seek to benefit others, asking God to accomplish His plan through them, deliver them from a sin, encourage them in their difficulty, or draw them to Himself.
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Effective: Our prayers should accomplish the purposes for which we pray them. Every time. How? God said in Isaiah 55:11, “so shall My word be that goes out from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” God guarantees what He says. The vital, often omitted component of effective prayer is His words being reflected in our requests. God is only interested in ensuring His word accomplishes what it sets out to do. So when our prayer requests are based in God’s revealed word found in the Bible, and in accordance with His desired purposes, we can be confident God will “keep His word” in bringing it to pass.
Let’s reevaluate our prayer lives. Identify and discard stale rituals masquerading as prayers. Replace them with vibrant, intimate conversations with God that have clear intent, specific requests, seek to benefit His name and advance His purposes, and that reflect His word.
Those types of prayers are effective. Those prayers get God’s attention. Those prayers accomplish much.
What repetitive “prayers” can you identify in your life? How can you start to communicate with God more effectively?
2 comments
I adore this post, Michelle. It speaks straight to the heart. I thank God for your desire to share. You are a blessing to anyone who knows you.
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Oh, Joycelyn, thank you for your kind words! Your life, conviction, and all-in commitment to Christ continue to inspire my growth. I’m grateful I have tangible examples like you in my life of effective prayers being answered. I value you and appreciate your continued support.