Poems and prayers

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Today’s first reading from Ecclesiasticus 48:1-15 is a song or poem in honour of Elijah. He was indeed an extraordinary character. He could punish the people and close down the heavens. He brought down fire in his challenge to the prophets of Baal. Among his miracles, he also raised a corpse from the dead. He spoke against the authorities, those in power. When his time came, he was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind after having filled his successor, Elisha, with his spirit. It is no wonder that he can still be remembered and his deeds extoled 2,500 years after his death and after this poem was written or sung. Poetry has the power to inspire just as prayer has the power to touch the inmost depth of our human spirits. So, today we listen to the words of Jesus from the gospel of Matthew 6:7-15 where he teaches his disciples the “Our Father”. The context of this teaching is important. Jesus was advising his disciples not to babble as the pagans do.

 

It is not to be like the prayers of the prophets of Baal during Elijah’s time who, for all their babbling could not get their God to send down fire to burn the wood prepared for the sacrifice. So prayer should be kept short and to the point. We don’t have to annoy or badger God in order to get what we want. As Jesus says, “your Father knows what you need before you ask him”. Prayer is not just a petition for what we need but also a reminder of what is expected of us. Even as we ask God to forgive us, we are also reminded that this will happen on the proviso that we will forgive those who are in debt to us. Let us learn to keep our poetry and our prayers to the point so that they can continue to inspire and evoke. They are for our sakes rather than for God’s. Still, we believe that God listens to people, especially when they find it difficult to express what they want to say. That’s when prayer can be most genuine.