The "Us" of Prayer

Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. (Psalm 95:1-7 ESV).

Our reading today emphasizes the “us” of prayer. Prayer has never been a purely a private affair. To a superficial observer it may look as though we are closing in on ourselves when we pray in solitude. But the truth is just the opposite. Prayer brings us into contact with God. Far from being alone, we enter communion with the One who is the Source of all. We communicate with the One in whose love we have been created. Communion with God also brings us into oneness with all that the Creator has made. Prayer brings us into community. In prayer we enter a close relationship with God, drawing us into communion with all people and all creation. Like Jesus, we need times of solitude—just being with our heavenly Father. Out of that relationship we enter into corporate prayer as a community of faith. We are members of the body of Christ. Our prayers, as Jesus taught, are addressed to our Father. We pray for our daily bread and we ask God to forgive us. When we pray we are interceding for all of God’s people. I must confess that I have looked when told to “close your eyes and bow your heads.” I suppose I have been motivated by curiosity more than anything else in doing so. However, this little quirk has led to a few observations. I have noticed that children look around too. We have not really understood fully how much we teach in non-verbal ways in our churches. The things we do are noticed. I have also noticed that much of the time the prayers done in public are really not communal prayer. Most of the time it is one person who is talking to a lot of other people; it is often just an extension of the sermon. That is especially true when people quote Scripture when they pray publicly. I wonder if they really think God needs to be reminded of what He wrote. Perhaps John Calvin helps us most with the “us in prayer. He said that in solitary prayer we are formed for expression of prayer with others. Prayer in secret equips us for prayer in community.