Lake City, Arkansas' elementary school
canceled their sixth grade graduation ceremony after a parent complained
about the inclusion of a Christian prayer at the event, according to Christy
Barritt (www.christybarritt.com). The school had received letters from the
American Civil Liberties Union and the Freedom From Religion Foundation
threatening legal action. Parents then found a church willing to host the
graduation and invited all students to participate.
Why
would they take such drastic measures for lack on one prayer?
It
turns out that prayer is far more than a ceremonial reference to God. Florida State University
released results of five compiled studies that showed praying for
close friends or romantic partners can lead to more forgiveness and
overall cooperative behavior (also from Barritt). Dr. Frank D. Fincham of FSU
said, "The value of the current studies is that we have objective measures
to show that colloquial, intercessory prayer focused on the partner changes
observable behavior."
What
is true for partners must also be seen as true for one's children. Prayer is a
force for God's good being done in the world. When parents pray for their
children there will be less anger and frustration. This is not a devout hope
but a verifiable truth. In a world in which we are asked to "think
positive thoughts" to improve our relationships the FSU study found that
positive thoughts combined with prayer led to higher levels of cooperative
tendencies and forgiveness.
The
parents who canceled a ceremony because it lacked a single prayer were saying
the ceremony had no efficacy without the force offered by prayer for the
children and the family.
When
you pray today take heart that your time with God will positively affect your
time with those for whom you pray.
You make an interesting argument, however, Christy Barritt's motivation could have also been based on principle. Still, the efficacy of universal prayer is well-published. . .not just 'Christian prayer'. Sherman (or any others), why does PRAYER seem to 'work', do you think, despite one's faith? Does this imply that G_d listens to (and answers) ALL sincere prayer? What is the scriptural support for this, if any? THANKYOU for taking time to respond.
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