My dad suffered from and ultimately succumbed to Lewy body dementia. The Mayo Clinic describes Lewy body dementia as the second most common type of progressive dementia after Alzheimer’s disease. Protein deposits, called Lewy bodies, develop in nerve cells in the brain regions involved in thinking, memory, and movement (motor control).

Lewy body dementia causes a progressive decline in mental abilities. People with Lewy body dementia might have visual hallucinations and changes in alertness and attention. Other effects include Parkinson’s disease signs and symptoms such as rigid muscles, slow movement, walking difficulty and tremors.

It is a terrible disease which robs one, not only of cognitive abilities, but also mobility. My father quickly reached a state where he failed to recognize anyone. My mother, brother, and I were all strangers to him.

One thing, however, did not change. My dad was a person of prayer. He would have starved to death had my mom not placed food on the table and put him in front of it. The moment he was seated he began to pray. At that point his cognitive abilities were gone, his memory a thing of the past, but he was hardwired to pray.

One could make the argument that given the level of disease progression the prayer meant nothing. I would argue that for those of us who witnessed it, it meant a great deal. Dad didn’t know his name, but he was hardwired to pray.

People of faith we often take prayer for granted. We may offer perfunctory grace for a meal, or a prayer at bedtime, and we are quick to pray in a crisis, but prayer is meant to be transformational.

We often hear the phrase, “Prayer Changes Things.” That’s an unfortunate, and deeply flawed explanation of the meaning of prayer. Prayer doesn’t change things. 

By definition “thing” is a noun an object that one need not, cannot, or does not wish to give a specific name to an inanimate material object as distinct from a living sentient being.

Given that definition, why would one want to change an inanimate material object? Change it from what to what? Change a door to a window? Rarely do we prayer over inanimate objects.

Prayer is meant to change the attitude of our heart. When our attitude is changed, we change the relationships in which we engage. Prayer is meant to be transformational and transactional.

To begin with prayer changes our relationship with God. We humble ourselves before the Creator of the universe. We come naked as newborns before the God who created us and in that moment of vulnerability, we confess the joys and sorrows of being human. We receive in prayer the presence and comfort of God’s being. We do not always receive the instant gratification that we have come to expect in our society. Rather, we are invited into the presence of God, who sustains and loves us in all our failures and celebrations.

Herein lies both the transformation and transactional nature of prayer. When one is transformed in attitude toward God, one cannot help but be transformed in human relationships as well.

All of theology is transactional. God initiated the transaction by reaching out to fallen humanity through the incarnation. Our role in the transaction is to accept the gift of life proffered in Jesus and live as disciples.

Note the words of Jesus, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44 emphasis added). Whoa! Really? Pray for those who persecute me? Of course, prayer is meant to be transformational. It’s difficult to hate someone for whom we are praying. The transaction requires that we forgive and love others as we have been forgiven.

Imagine the qualitative difference in human interaction if we prayed for those we perceive as enemies before we encountered them. The prayer from the cross, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34) should haunt us when we use vicious words to attack those who dare to disagree with us.

Imagine the difference in political discourse, if before we went on the offensive, we went to our knees.

There is an unfortunate movement in our nation among folks who espouse Christian commitment, while failing to demonstrate any of the characteristics of love, forgiveness, humility, and grace exemplified by our Savior. It is self-deception which leads to alienation from Christ and one another.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’ (Matthew 7:21-23)

Prayer is meant to be transformational.

Loudly proclaiming “Lord, Lord” without the accompanying acts of repentance and forgiveness is not only meaningless, but destructive to the Kingdom of God. Some who scream the loudest will find themselves on the wrong side of judgment.

Prayer is meant to be transactional.

In speaking to the disciples about prayer Jesus proclaimed, “if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you” (Mark 11:23).

It sounds like carte blanche to pray for whatever our heart desires and we are guaranteed to receive what we ask for. A closer look is required.

While the illustration of moving a mountain is powerful, it is doubtful that Jesus was literally referring to moving a physical mountain. A more likely understanding is that prayer has the power to move the internal mountains of prejudice and hatred that permeate our hearts and condemn our society. Literally moving a mountain has no more eternal meaning than Siegfried and Roy making a tiger disappear. It is merely an illusion.

Jesus clarifies this when he concludes, “Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.” (Mark 11:25)

Both the transformational and transactional nature of prayer is clearly stated. When one experiences the transforming power of forgiveness one must be an individual who practices forgiveness. The transaction begins with God and is lived out in each day’s interactions with the neighbor.

In prayer my attitude toward the neighbor is transformed from unforgiveness to understanding, from bitterness to compassion. If I expect forgiveness, I am required to live forgiveness.

Prayer is meant to be transformational.

In prayer one is transformed increasingly into the likeness of God. It is impossible to see and hear God in the political and social rhetoric that permeates the airwaves and social media which bombards us each day.

My dad was hardwired to pray. The loss of cognitive function did not steal that fundamental commitment to thank God for daily food, to give and receive forgiveness. I learned many things from dad. He showed me a model of prayer.

Selah is a word that is used 74 times in the Hebrew Bible. Its precise meaning is unknown, but it is thought to be a musical term equal to a rest.

Psalm 46:10 challenges the reader to “Be still.” In the world in which we live there is a constant need for us to “Be still.” The purpose of those moments of solitude is to turn ourselves away from the pressures and stresses that surround and remember that God is in control of this vast universe. We don’t like relinquishing control, but we are well-served to “Calm down, and learn that I am God!” (Contemporary English Version).

I recently lost my temper over a small matter and felt the need to apologize and ask forgiveness for my anger. A pause. A four-beat rest would have settled the situation without angry words.

Selah is an intentional pause in the harshness of life. Selah, says “take a breath.” Count four beats before you speak or act. Selah isn’t meant to be read. It is meant to be lived.

The Message paraphrase puts it this way, “Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God, above politics, above everything.” Selah gives space to remember that God is above our political squabbles, above the mundane things that we embue with such importance.

Shhh. . .”Be still” and allow God to be God.

The title comes from the Old Testament book of Esther. If you are not familiar with the story, Esther is a young Jewish woman who becomes queen of Persia. When the Jews are threatened with genocide Esther is put in the delicate position of approaching the Persian monarch with a plan to save the Jewish nation. She is at first reluctant to approach the king, but she is challenged with the words, “For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.” (Esther 4:14 emphasis added)

These are important words for the Christian church in the world today. In this time of political and social unrest and upheaval those who call themselves Christ-followers need to boldly proclaim that at such a time as this we will live into the Incarnation of Christ, that is, the Word will be made flesh in our lives.

This is the first of what I hope will become an ongoing conversation. I hope you will find it challenging and inspiring.

Blessings,

Jim