Posted on 03/11/2015 11:00:01 AM PDT by SoFloFreeper
The Story: According to the 2014 General Social Survey, a record-low share of Americans attend church regularly, affiliate with a religious faith, and see themselves as religious. But more than half still say they pray at least once a day.
The Background: This national survey, which has been conducted every two years since 1972, is the broadest study of religious attitudes in the United States, note Michelle Boorstein and Peyton M. Craighill. According to their article in Washington Post:
The stability of prayer contrasts sharply with erosion on other measures of religious commitment. Since 2006, the percentage of people describing themselves as “very” or “moderately” religious has declined eight percentage points, from 62 percent to 54 percent. The share affiliating with a particular faith has fallen from over 90 percent in the 1980s and 1990s to 79 percent in 2014. Just over 4 in 10 report attending worship services at least once a month, down roughly 10 points from three decades ago. All are record lows.
The resilience of prayer reflects a broader shift in Americans’ understanding of religion, according to Christian Smith, a professor of sociology who leads the University of Notre Dame’s Center for the Study of Religion and Society.
“Religion is gradually becoming more personal, private, subjective in practice,” and “less public, institutional and shared,” Smith said. “People still believe religious things and practice religion ‘in their heads,’ as in prayer, but are less institutionally connected and engage in fewer public, institution-centered observations.”
Why It Matters: In looking for a silver-lining to this finding we might be tempted to say, “Well, at least they’re praying.” But while they may be sending their requests to God, are they truly praying?
What exactly is prayer, anyway? Most people might say it’s talking to God, mostly to ask for what we need. This is partially true, but there is a piece that is missing. As Tim Keller writes in his latest book, prayer is connected to God’s revelation:
What is prayer, then, in the fullest sense? Prayer is continuing a conversation that God has started through his Word and his grace, which eventually becomes a full encounter with him. . . . The power of our prayers, then, lies not primarily in our effort and striving, or in any technique, but rather in our knowledge of God.
This is why, as Donald Whitney says, “. . . of all the Spiritual Disciplines, prayer is second only to the intake of God’s Word in importance.” Prayer is second in importance because it relies on our knowledge of God, which comes from reading his Word. Engagement with Scripture is an essential—though often missing—component of prayer. Without this piece, prayer becomes problematic.
If we include this missing piece we can craft what I believe is a robust definition of Biblical prayer:
Prayer is an encounter with God that is initiated by him through his Word and that changes our hearts as we humbly communicate and worship the Lord, confess our sins and transgressions, and ask him to fulfill both our needs and the desires of our heart according to his will.
Without engagement with Scripture, our prayers are like a phone conversation in which the other person can hear us but we can’t hear them. Fortunately, we have an easy solution to our prayer problem: To fully encounter God in prayer, encounter him first through his Word.
Joe Carter is an editor for The Gospel Coalition and the co-author of How to Argue Like Jesus: Learning Persuasion from History’s Greatest Communicator. You can follow him on Twitter.
We have to LISTEN before we speak. ;-)
Hope this helps someone!
Given the liberal and secular evolution of the mainline denominations I think this is understandable and reasonable.
FALSANI: Do you pray often?
OBAMA: Uh, yeah, I guess I do.
Its’ not formal, me getting on my knees. I think I have an ongoing conversation with God. I think throughout the day, I’m constantly asking myself questions about what I’m doing, why am I doing it.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing and give thanks in all circumstances.
Is that for real? Obama calls talking to himself “praying”?
LOL.
Lots of prayer and lots of whiskey have worked for me these past 6 years! ;)
My daily thought, usually spoken out loud:
“Thank you Lord for another beautiful day.”
whether it’s pouring buckets or sunshine.
That is a great quote.
Of course our Narcissist in Chief would pray to himself. That’s who he worships.
That this man claims to be a Christian boggles the mind.
Homosexualists and Communists have alike conceived and set afoot a plan to overreach and seize control of the mainline churches for their own purposes. Their convergent agenda are embodied in the person of the gay Communist Harry Hay of San Francisco. (His boyfriend was Communist actor Will Geer, who went on to a post-blacklist career on The Waltons as "Grandpa Walton", and the libelous Dalton Trumbo movie, Executive Action, which blamed the assassination of John F. Kennedy on Dallas oilmen and the CIA. )
“Given the liberal and secular evolution of the mainline denominations I think this is understandable and reasonable.”
Meanwhile, nondenominational churches are sprouting up all over the country.
Interesting.
I did not know Will Geer had such a relationship with Hay.
I didn’t know they even knew each other.
Very real. An interview he gave back when he was first delivered into the Illinois state senate.
May or may not be of interest to your Reformation list...you decide. :)
Neither did I, until I looked up Hay for another reason. Surprise, surprise.
A communist, a muslim and a homosexual stroll into a bar. The bartender says, "Welcome, Mr. President. What can I get you?"
"Buy a lottery ticket."
Communist. Muslim. Homosexual
Still trying to wrap my head around thus for the last 7 years
Well...just...dam!
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