Just a Minute Devotional #9
Tradition influences our spiritual life
These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. (Matthew 15:8, NIV)
Here I lay me down to sleep. . .
As a very young child, my dad taught me that prayer at bedtime. The possible author was George Wheler, who wrote The Protestant Monastery in 1698. If so, that is a long tradition.
I pray thee Lord my soul to keep. . .
I said this prayer every night at bedtime. It makes me ponder: Do traditions affect our beliefs?
If I should die before I wake. . .
As a child, I hated that part of the prayer. I truly wanted to wake up in the morning. Now that I’m older, I realize that this might not be a bad way to go.
Traditions do affect our religious rituals.
However, we must be careful not to let our lips praise God when our hearts are cold. We must question our religious rituals of worship if our faith is shallow. If we follow the Biblical law yet neglect love, something is amiss.
There is comfort in traditions. God loves us and hears our memorized prayers, but He wants more. He wants our hearts.
I return to my traditional prayer on nights I am spent and don’t know how to pray.
I pray thee, Lord, my soul to take.
