Just one more thing: Who me, give the prayer?Just one more thing: Who me, give the prayer?

The audience was restless as John rambled on in his first sermonette oops, I mean opening prayer! I have to admit that my mind wandered also. I thought, Wouldn't it be nice to have guide lines on how to give opening and closing prayers? I remember the first time I was asked to give the opening prayer. I went into shell shock. For weeks after that, I tried to make myself inconspicuous the few minutes before services started. I went so far as to hide behind the pillars of the hall we were meeting in for fear of being called upon to give the prayer. Have any of you men ever felt this way? What, after all, is the purpose of opening prayers? Are they supposed to make services sound more religious? Would it make any difference if we did not have such prayers? Are they just part of a hollow, meaningless ritual? Not at all!

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Publication Date: July 2, 1984