It was a hot, sticky evening, when a 21-year-old man by the name of Dylann Roof entered the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in the picturesque downtown of Charleston, South Carolina for that evening’s Bible Study. Sitting down by an 87-year-old women named Susie, the Bible Study began. Friends greeted friends, handshakes and ‘hellos’ were exchanged, Bibles were unpacked and turned to the appropriate passage for that nights teaching and conversation. Once the groups conversation turned toward Scripture, this new visitor started to disagree with their understanding and view of the Bible. That was okay though, this was a welcoming church and his frustrations with the Bible were welcomed as well, the room, full of black people, simply wanted to love and accept this young white man.
The Bible study was drawing to a close and after taking prayer requests and with every head bowed and with every eye closed, Roof seized his opportunity. He stood up, took out his handgun from the fanny-pack around his waist and he opened fire. His reasoning, reportedly, was that he had “do it. You rape our women and you’re taking over our country. And you have to go.”[1] The entire rampage took only six minutes, but Roof had to reload his gun five-times before he had finished. Once the shooting stopped, he had left the church leaving nine people dead.
Fast forward to the trial and we are stunned to see that hope conquers hate in a speechless courtroom. It was there that forgiveness was extended to a man completely unworthy of it. “Rev. Simmons’ son, [one of the victims of the shooting] … said to Roof, ‘I forgive you.’ “I know that you don’t understand that, but God requires me to forgive you. I forgive you. He also requires me to plead and pray for you, and I do that,” Simmons Jr. said, according to WCIV. “Understand that as you have been judged, know that you have an opportunity to ask for forgiveness. Know that you can change your life. Stay focused. I guarantee if you choose to serve [God] you will have a better life.”[2]
We have seen that real prayer focuses on relationship by refocusing our attention upward toward God, inward toward our connection with God, and lastly outward, so that we can restore our relationship with others and the world.
“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.“
Relational Prayer focuses us Outward (vv. 14-15)
Real prayer is not an isolated spiritual event simply between you and God. Real prayer focuses our attention on our relationship with God, which then motivates our actions toward those around us by restoring our relationships with our neighbors and our world. Real prayer shapes us to be bridges of hope to people isolated, lost, and enslaved to their sin.
This world can be an unforgiving place, because we can be unforgiving toward others. Instead of being empathetic, we judge, we blame, we fight, we argue, and we demonize others that don’t look like us, act like us, think like us, vote like, pray like us, or have the same damaged baggage like us. Real prayer cuts through all of that hatred and segregation and mold our minds to think and act like Christ (Rom. 8:28-29). Instead of simply judging others for their lifestyles choices or your perception of their life, real prayer focuses our attention on restoring that person back to God by loving them publicly and personally.
This is because real prayer is ultimately outwardly focused. Not in a vain, showy sort of way, but in a way, that always motivates you to forgive others, no matter how horribly that have hurt you. Real prayer always refocuses your attention on helping those around you. Yes, pray is a private event, but the effects of that event will always be expressed publicly through sacrificial service, authentic kindness, and countercultural love.
We see the effects of real prayer through the acts of mercy by a man who had every right to deny forgiveness to a white supremist murder. We see the effects of real prayer when a man stands up to his desires and says ‘No’ to what could have been an extra-marital affair that no one would have ever known about. We see the effects of real prayer when a crack-addict, pleading to God for help, enters into a new community of supporters that help him transfrom his life. We see the effects of real prayer every day when obedient sons and daughters of God choose to love their neighbors that don’t act, think, vote, or look like them but they still love them anyway.
No matter how much we advance as a culture. No matter how sophisticated our technology becomes. We still long for the benefits of real prayer in our lives because we still need God to help shape us and show us how to live our lives. I love this quote from Dr. Martin Luther King when he said, “We’ve learned to fly the air like birds, we’ve learned to swim the seas like fish, and yet we haven’t learned to walk the Earth as brothers and sisters.” Friends, real prayer helps us make that a reality. It helps us to love God by focusing on relationship with Him which translates into loving others, because “love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.”
This week, focus on your prayer life. If you haven’t prayed in a while, try having a conversation with God for 10 minutes. There is no special formula, no set of specific words that you need to speak, no prescribed length of prayer or even a specific location. It is simply an intimate conversation with God that influences how you live your life. If you want to grow spiritually in 2018, then you have to start having real, intimate conversations with God. Don’t put this off. God wants to have a relationship with you that is expressed through constant conversation with Him.
Get growing and get praying.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charleston_church_shooting
[2] http://abcnews.go.com/US/charleston-victims-mother-tells-dylann-roof-forgive/story?id=44704096
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