{"id":20,"date":"2015-04-30T01:54:55","date_gmt":"2015-04-30T01:54:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thenakedjesus\/?p=20"},"modified":"2015-04-30T01:54:55","modified_gmt":"2015-04-30T01:54:55","slug":"how-do-you-pray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thenakedjesus\/2015\/04\/how-do-you-pray\/","title":{"rendered":"How Do You Pray?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"TNJ-26.fw\"<\/a><\/p>\n

One of the most meaningless things a Follower of Christ can say is, \u201cI will pray for you.\u201d Yet, it is what we are called to do, so how can it be meaningless? Here are a few things that pop into my head when I hear a Follower of Christ say that\u2026<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. People bug you, and you want to push them away as soon as possible \u2013 nicely.<\/li>\n
  2. You don\u2019t want to get dirty getting involved in their lives, so this is your \u201cChristian Out.\u201d<\/li>\n
  3. You say you\u2019ll pray, but you won\u2019t. As soon as they leave your sight, you will forget what they asked you to pray for.<\/li>\n
  4. It is easier to just say \u201cI\u2019ll pray\u201d when you know you won\u2019t.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Too many Followers of Christ use the \u201cI\u2019ll pray\u201d card to get out of diving into the lives of others. We fear getting dirty, changing our plans, getting involved. But as Follower, we should be ready; we should dive into the lives of others and help when we can.<\/p>\n

    Praying is good, but if you pray more than you help \u2013 you might want to rethink how you follow.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    One of the most meaningless things a Follower of Christ can say is, \u201cI will pray for you.\u201d Yet, it is what we are called to do, so how can it be meaningless? Here are a few things that pop into my head when I hear a Follower of Christ say that\u2026 People bug you, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2697,"featured_media":21,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6,12,14,16,17,19,1],"tags":[29,62,68,69,78],"class_list":["post-20","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church","category-dance","category-missional","category-open","category-play","category-prayer","category-story","category-uncategorized","tag-care","tag-missional","tag-pray","tag-prayer","tag-story"],"yoast_head":"\nHow Do You Pray?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"One of the most meaningless things a Follower of Christ can say is, "I will pray for you." 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