During the first years of my Christian experience friends would refer to their prayer lists. It has been some time since I have heard the list reference repeated. I would sometimes make a prayer list, but found that I am of such a nature that making the list seemed to take too much time that could be devoted to prayer. I should have discovered that in making the list I was in prayer for that I was writing about. God can read as well as listen, and gives attention to written prayers as oral ones, if both are moved along in faith related to God’s instructions we find in Scripture – related to the desires of the heart. I have included written prayers at the close of chapters of a manuscript I felt I needed to write about prayer, even if no one ever reads the information and challenge about variety found in prayer. Those written prayers tend to take out the informalities that oral prayer often takes, so are shorter, perhaps more poetic, but are quite meaningful for me. Such a writing exercise serves many persons well in the development of any prayer habits. In the passing decades I have substituted a memory system for daily prayer related to baseball’s four bases as parable for my purpose. The first base is related entirely to the worship of God, and my personal life in any accent that impresses me on the day, and including any person joining me for the prayer period. I think of each day as living in day-tight compartments, so to do certain things each day as one must do for eating, resting, grooming, working – and praying. Each day I touch first base in honor to God and in praying for myself in all that relates to my person, faith and maturation. This is partly because I want to be formed in my best person so as to add to any influence that is to be achieved in the remaining period of prayer. Scripture reminds us that we should be up-to-date in our faith. If not we even leave off prayer, go yonder, and make right whatever is related to anything in our lives and experiences that may be displeasing to God.
Second base is for my family beginning with my children, their mates, and onward to their children, and their children. There are four generations for me at this writing. Likely in a few years there will be a fifth. (Last year I pronounced husband and wife to a great grandson, and his bride.) Prayers for the family go to the elders in the family, cousins, aunts and uncles, and those marrying adopted by me in my heart as family in status. Some of these almost seem closer to me than those of the same blood. This is likely because they are better at maintaining communication. I tend to accent this segment of prayer time for the future of the generations. My family includes adopted, married into, remote family persons I have never yet met. One of my sisters had a daughter attending from a distant state, my 90th birthday celebration. She is to me as a daughter. The daughters of my other sister are seldom in contact from 2000 miles distant, but have been when needing some pastoral assistance. They all receive prayer whether they know it or not.
Third base is the church, both spiritual Church and the institutional church. The contexts overlap but have differing characteristics. The Church (upper case ‘C’, defined by God in Scripture) is identified as those whose genuine faith is entirely the business of the Christian and God, but needing prayer. The second (lower case ‘c’) includes the work of the church as an institution like any other institution meeting the expectations of parishioners in the world of influence and business, including good will, charity (service to others), education in biblical integrity, and community meaning. The main issue is to design for mission, including service/worship, and communicate gospel concerns. Mission was the last command of Christ.
Home plate is the final context – the world. It includes everything from prayer for international peace, to prayer for the children of the world. Even the weather gets a few words when Mother Nature seems to act up. (God sometimes talks to us in the weather.) Institutions serving mankind and affecting their welfare and balance are topics especially related to education, counseling, service to the needy, the hungry, the homeless, the troubled. Our main prayer focus in the larger scope is to pray for righteousness for the conduct of mankind – order, society, progress, economies, and all that identifies life activity relates to this category. So it is in prayer that a person serves first duty to others. Amen. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020