Categories: uncategorized
Date: 16 October 2009 07:42:32
Yesterday I had a conversation with somebody about procrastinationary prayer. You know the sort where you go to a service, prayer meeting or just take some quiet time because you then have a good excuse not to get on with a bit of study or particular task. You do genuinely pray but your motive for coming before God in the first place is.....well questionable.
We were thinking about how God judges this. Well, to be honest he probably not impressed but he also looks at in the kind of pragmatic way that many parents and others do. We know that our children / friends are sometimes eagar to spend time chatting to us, doing coffee or whatever only because we are preferable to the alternative option of what they "should be doing". It's amazing how quality time with Third Party so often co-incides with her homework.
On a personal level though procrastinationary prayer often tends to be amongst the most honest prayer. I end up chatting to God about what I should be doing, about the things and people worrying me. I also tend to come to procastinationary prayer with a bit of guilt, because I know I should be doing something else. This means that I tend to be more confessionally open than I am if I am trying to pray over a coffee or whatever that I have scheduled into my day.
So is procrastinationary prayer to be recommended, no but yes but maybe.