I DIDN’T HEAR NOBODY PRAY
Cecil Hook

The sad refrain of an old hillbilly song lingers in my memory. The ballad tells of a tragic wreck on the highway, and the lament was, “I didn’t hear nobody pray.” The victims met the trauma with fatalism. It speaks of our inclination, even as believers, to face our most devastating circumstances without asking for divine help.

The assembled body of believers should be “a house of prayer.” Disciples need the help that comes through prayer and strength that comes from those who pray with them. Assemblies should help to fill our need by congregational support in prayer. Even though we may approach God privately with our urgent requests, we may still feel lonely, forgotten, and ineffective without the intercession of others.

I would like to know that the things I am about to mention do not apply in your congregation. Traditionally, our prayers in assemblies have been impromptu without plan or forethought. Too often, they are repetitious, generalized prayers led by the next person on the rotation list. Because of such ineffectiveness, the disciple with a breaking, burdened heart can leave our services unfulfilled, feeling that “I didn’t hear nobody pray!”

How many of the deep personal, national, and universal concerns are addressed in the prayers in your assemblies? The checklist for petitions usually includes the sick and the afflicted, widows and orphans, those who have lost loved ones, the preacher, and the elders, along with a few variations. Little forethought is discerned in the prayer.

Consequently, a person filled with despairing anxieties, depression, stress, emotional instability, or feelings of helplessness may leave the service feeling that “I didn’t hear nobody pray.”

Do we ever pray for those paralyzed by low self-esteem, the disgraced, the convicted law-breaker, or those in prison?

If the jobless, those burdened by debt, the destitute, or the homeless were to attend our services, would they even receive any emotional support through our prayers?

A person whose faith is being tried by fire, or is overcome by temptation, or is fighting against overpowering doubts, or is being driven by peer pressure should be able to find strength in our prayer sessions together. But do they?

And what of those who came to the assembly in spite of disheartening marital problems, problems with children, problems with parents, alienations, broken friendships, divorce, and being victims of divorce? As to their needs being presented to the Lord, do they leave thinking, “I didn’t hear nobody pray”?

Do we remember the lonely, those confined at home, those neglected helpless persons, and those in nursing homes. Even though these individuals might have once been very active in the congregations, when they can no longer attend, we let them fade from our concern as non-persons. Although we may not be able to attend to all their needs, we can remember them in prayer. When I think of these forgotten people, I often recall the line from Coleridge’s The Ancient Mariner:

Alone, alone, all, all alone,

Alone on a wide, wide sea,

And never a soul took pity on my soul in agony.

Wars rage; thousands die; and injustice deprives and enslaves its victims. Do we pray for peace constantly, or only when our own country is in conflict? Do not the hurting millions in the deprived nations merit our concern and intercession?

The television news brings the horrible picture of the starving around the world. We send some food but cannot feed them all; yet we can pray to the Source of food in their behalf. But do we?

We decry the corruption, greed, oppression, and tyranny of the officials of our country and other nations. But I don’t hear nobody pray to God to use and overrule the evil men to bring about good. Prayer for the integrity of those in power is not a priority in our assemblies either.

Our nation is in a snow-balling, downhill roll of immorality—vulgarity, obscenity, profanity, pornography, dehumanizing activities, sexual promiscuity (whether by heterosexuals or homosexuals), mockery of God’s standards, dope addiction and drug traffic, liquor addiction and its traffic, pleasure addiction, and flaunting of wealth. When was the last time you heard those diseases of decay laid before God in the church gathering? These current local and personal concerns should keep us agonizing in prayer as a body. “But I didn’t hear nobody pray!”

It is estimated that about 20 million births have been aborted since the Roe vs. Wade decision of Jan. 22, 1973. That is 4,000 per day! But I never hear anybody cry out to God for those helpless victims in our churches.

The believers in Christ are shamelessly divided—both those in the Church of Christ and those outside of it. When did you last hear that grave problem mentioned in prayer? I was dropped from the list of those to lead public prayer here. It was later revealed that an elder had my name removed because the last time I led a prayer, I prayed for unity, and that made it sound like we were divided!

The God of the universe has promised sympathetic audience with us who are in Christ. “Ask, and it will be given you!” When we ask for bread, he will not give us a stone; when we ask for fish he will not give us a snake! “You do not have, because you ask not.” Our prayers are hindered by lack of faith, lack of concern, and selfishness.

There are two reasons why we do not pray for these needs in our assemblies: those who lead the public prayers do not pray for them in their private prayers, and we do not make our specific needs known to those leading.

When we lead public prayers, let us be so discerning that each person present will feel that intercession was made for him or her by all those present. “I heard somebody—a whole body—pray for me!”—1350 Huisache, New Braunfels, Tx. 78130