Superstitious Prayer

When I was a kid I somehow became kind of superstitious without thinking about it. If I saw a black cat coming, I went around so that it didn'tÂ’t cross my path if I could help it. I didnÂ’t walk under ladders for the most part, really tried not to break mirrors (although with my face you could see how this would be difficult), and even thought I might be able to rub a little good luck out of a rabbitÂ’s foot some friend had from time to time. ItÂ’s funny, because I donÂ’t think I really believed that any of these superstitions were true, but I guess I just figured it couldnÂ’t hurt to be careful about them. It was as easy to go around the ladder as under it, so why not?

Sometimes I wonder if prayer is superstitious for us sometimes. We don’t really believe that God will give us safety when we travel, but it can’t hurt to throw out our wish to be safe with His name attached to it. I think this is really true in athletics and materialism. “God, please help us to be victorious today.” “God, I really want that winter home in Florida, so if you could help with that I’d appreciate it.” Would we really say these things as prayers if we were truly addressing God and understood something of who He is and what He cares about? Or do we just see God as the big rabbit’s foot in the sky, asking Him for things probably won’t work, but it doesn’t hurt to throw it out there.