I thank you, God, that I am not like this tax collector

Originally posted Friday, February 29, 2008 at 1:26am

I’ve seen people who prayed in many different ways: Christians who pray spontaneously in loud, triumphant voices, with shouts of “Amen!” and “O Lord Jesus!” punctuating their prayers in an almost chant-like fashion, Christians who memorize repetitive liturgical prayers written hundreds of years ago, Christians who begin every prayer with the words “Lord, I just pray you would . . .” and end every prayer with “In Jesus’ name, amen.” I’ve been thinking a bit about what it means to live a prayerful life recently.

The other day, I read this about a Russian monk named St. Seraphim of Sarov (1759-1833):

“In 1804, Seraphim was attacked by robbers and almost beaten to death. Permanent injuries sustained from this attack caused him to always be bent over and the need of a staff to walk. After this event, the Saint began more fervent prayers, incessant for a thousand days and a thousand nights; spending the better part of his time kneeling on a stone near his cell crying out, ‘Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner.’ Then he spent three years in absolute silent seclusion. Obeying the request of the elders of the monastery, Seraphim returned to the monastery in 1810, but continued to live in prayer, and silent seclusion for another ten years. In obedience to a heavenly vision, Seraphim ended his silence and began to speak for the benefit of others. The Saint greeted all who came to him with a prostration, a kiss, and the words of the Pascha greeting: ‘Christ is Risen!’ He called everyone, ‘my joy.’ In 1825, he returned to his forest cell, where he received thousands of pilgrims from across Russia. Granted the gift of clairvoyance, the wonder-working Saint Seraphim of Sarov gave consolation and guidance to all.”

Now just for the sake of argument let’s take this account at face value and not worry about whether St. Seraphim really saw a heavenly vision or any of that. Maybe we are meant to be inspired by the life of so holy a man as St. Seraphim, but one of my first reactions is puzzlement. To me, spending night and day kneeling on a stone crying out to God doesn’t even begin to sound like the way anyone should live, let anyone something for other believers to aspire to. Surely God in His infinite wisdom can use a person like St. Seraphim, but surely the numbers He calls to such a life are very few indeed.

Of course, Luke 2:36-38 tells us of a prophetess named Anna who “did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.”

In life there are many who are poor, weak, afflicted, and helpless. Perhaps such people teach us that all of life is sacred, not only that of the rich and powerful and those with high-powered careers. I honestly wonder what people like Anna and St. Seraphim are meant to teach us.

Interestingly the New Testament gives us instructions not only on what we should pray for, but on how we should pray, and it tells us both to pray without ceasing, and to avoid long prayers. These passages are probably already familiar to most of you, but I will reproduce some of them here:

1Th 5:16 Rejoice always,
1Th 5:17 pray without ceasing,
1Th 5:18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Mar 12:38 And in his teaching he said, "Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces
Mar 12:39 and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts,
Mar 12:40 who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation."

Mat 6:5 "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
Mat 6:6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Mat 6:7 "And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.
Mat 6:8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Mat 6:9 Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Mat 6:10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Mat 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread,
Mat 6:12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Mat 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Mat 6:14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,
Mat 6:15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Luke 18:1-14 also contains two interesting parables which relate to this topic, but I will not reproduce them here, for length considerations. You should all go read them though. Anyway, I think the basic idea of these passages can be summed up with two basic principles:

- we should be in a constant state of repentance, thanksgiving, humility, and dependence before God
- we should not pray as though we were trying to impress God or man (of course, I don’t think this means long prayers are inherently bad; it just depends upon our attitude)

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: amen.