Just Pray — Talk on Your Knees

At a meeting, a young man shared a conversation with his sponsor.

Pouring out his heart, he had described to his sponsor a problem that he was having.

The sponsor listened carefully. Then after considerable thought, gave advice. He suggested, “Just get on your knees and pray. Pray about the person and situation.”

He continued the story with his rejoinder, “But I don’t believe in God. That would be lying and dishonest. And we have a program that depends on honesty. And besides being dishonest, it is unhelpful, how does kneeling and talking to something I don’t believe in resolve my problem?”

“I did not say that you had to get on your knees and pray to a God,” replied the sponsor. “Neither did I say that you had to believe in God. I said that you had to get on your knees and pray. That means two things, first, you get on your knees; second, you say some words about the problem. That is my advice. You can take it or leave it.”

Continuing, the sponsee shared his initial reactions to the advice. “First, I have overestimated this sponsor’s ability to give me good advice. Second, I have overestimated his intelligence and compassion. And third, I have never gone wrong following his directions in the past.”

So, he admitted, he followed the instructions. And goodness, gracious, the relationship problems dissolved. The antagonist that the sponsee was facing seemed to change for the better. In a short time, the problem was resolved.

“Why,” wondered the sponsee, “would that solution work? Talking to the air about my problem, while assuming a kneeling position?”

He answered is own question with some cogent observations.

First, by getting on his knees, he was physically reminded that he was not the highest power in the universe. Psychologists tell us that physical position can trigger attitudes and perceptual filters in our minds. In particular, the typical positions of prayer trigger attitudes and filters that, at a deep level, allow us to admit that we are not the greatest powers in the universe. We unconsciously adopt a mental state of teachability and humility.

Second, by talking about the situation, he was compelled to structure his thoughts and articulate the elements of the problem. Before we can speak about a subject, we must first order our thinking about the issue. The time-jumbled, random and inarticulate impressions and cross-links permitted in our unexpressed thinking become straight and ordered when reduced to words.

Third, just maybe there is a God and perhaps He is interested in this problem. And possibly He planted something in the sponsee’s head that began to work on the problem and eventually dissolved it.

Bottom line — just pray. It works. It really does.