By William S. Boice
April 15, 1984; p. 9
Is there a church that has no story to tell about prayers at the Lord’s table? We of the New Testament order often find ourselves criticized by our denominational brethren of a more liturgical custom who find our somewhat casual approach to Communion to be nearly offensive. It bears thinking about.
Years ago in a Cincinnati church we had a blessed elder of many years who often prayed, “O Lord, bless all them that precipitate in this service.” You could hear some of the schoolteachers choke!
Of recent memory in Phoenix is an elder now gone to glory whose presence at the Lord’s table guaranteed close listening but little reverence. One Sunday he prayed, “O Lord, we thank Thee for the birds and the bees, the flowers and the trees.” At the close of the service, another elder whispered fiercely to this minister, “Preacher, that old fool’s too old to be thinking about the birds and the bees.”
When our church was new, one good man who had been elected to be an elder, came in distress. He did not know how to pray in public and urgently needed help. “Write your prayer on a card,” we told him. “Hold it in your hand so it will remind you of what you want to say; it will give you confidence.”
When Sunday came, he held the card firmly in both hands, but he shook so hard he couldn’t read it!
For years we have heard pros and cons on elders who “pray from the heart” and elders who prefer to write their prayers before they give them. We believe both are valid. Professor Sayrs of sainted memory at Cincinnati Bible Seminary used to tell us that if he had an appointment with President Roosevelt, he would not go into his presence unprepared. He would not slap him on the back and talk about the weather, he said, but he would, with respect, converse about the thing that brought him into his presence. We have remembered that.
We have heard prayers ill-thought-out, wandering, not addressed to the purpose for which the family of God has come around the table of the Lord. And we have heard others to whom the gift of prayer has been so great they lift us to the very throne of God!
In a single Lord’s Day recently, two of our elders inspired and blessed us with their fervent, loving words before the Lord’s table. We thought you might enjoy them, also.
Elder Lowell Dorman prayed thus:
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Our Waiting Father,
In the spirit of consecration, we are in Your presence today. Through eyes of faith, we look upon Jesus Christ, our Savior. We know the joy of His salvation. We have lived in the strength of His fellowship. In walking with Him, we have walked in His light. His blood has cleansed us from our sins. By His death, we have been saved the consequences of our transgressions. Cause us now to see in this loaf and cup the representation of His precious life given in loving sacrifice for us. Renew a right spirit within us, O God.
We pray in Christ’s name,
Amen.
At the second service, another elder, Dr. Rex Brewster, offered this prayer:
Our Heavenly Father, we have come together to praise Your name. Jesus, Your Son and our Savior, was glorified on this the first day of the week. Jesus the light of the world. Do we find it strange that recorded as the first command on creation week was, “Let there be light,” “and it was good”?
Let us open our hearts to Your light and, as the apostle Paul admonished the Corinthians, “clean out the old leaven” so that we may be new and unleavened. “For Christ, our Passover lamb, also has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the feast not with old leaven nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”
This feast of the New Covenant—the broken loaf, the scarlet cup. Eat and drink this, in remembrance of Me. The simple command—with all the hope of eternity. May we now renew our commitment and obedience to glorify You. We pray all in that name above all—Jesus! Amen.
As the years have gone by, we have come again and again into the very presence of the crucified Lord through the prayers of godly men who, on behalf of the congregation, have helped teach us to pray. It is a blessed gift.
William S. Boice is minister emeritus with First Christian Church, Phoenix, Arizona.
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A few years ago, we featured a moving article by this same writer, William S. Boice, written during his days serving as a chaplain with U.S. troops in Europe during World War II. Read “Will You Say a Prayer for Me?”
Adding to the collection of brotherhood favorites: An Elder, can’t find an appropriate adjective, once sturdily intoned ‘Father’ 57 times in a 5 minute and 17 second prayer, during a Sunday AM service. Don’t know if he forgot whom he was addressing or if he thought congregants needed reminding! However, it was the outstanding memory from his prayer … Presumably one he had not written on a card; it would have taken an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of typewriter paper. Printers had not been invented.
Bill Boice was an imposing figure — not by his diminutive stature, but by the force of hard won personal qualities and spiritual maturity. Wars do that to people. Some rise to challenges they could not have imagined and that propels them ever forward. Along their path they lead and challenge many others to go with them including generals, governors and the rest of us. Bill did this repeatedly by giving recognition and praise when it was deserved- as here to Lowell and Rex. This response is to return the favor to you, Bill, that you so often bestowed on others.
This brief comment cannot begin to give Bill all the credit — on earth — due him. But many of us are still alive to remember and repeat what I often heard him say, “Hail and farewell.”