Using the Lord's Name in Vain

Not too long ago, as I was praying with some people, an article that I read almost 20 yrs ago came back to me. The article spoke about using the Lord’s name in vain.

And right about now, the question that begs asking is… how does praying equate to using the Lord’s name in vain?

See, I’m sure many of us are familiar with a common syndrome in prayer. It goes something like this: (read out lout, with a constipated face and with the most earnest voice you can conjure up) “Lord, Lord, we come before you today, Lord, and Lord, we ask that Lord, you will bless us Lord. Lord, we pray Lord, that Lord you will be glorified Lord. Lord, that Lord you would be Lord over us all. Lord, Lord, we ask today, Lord, that you hear our prayers, Lord… etc”

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not mocking these folks. And many times, these are the people who pray a lot. People with a healthy prayer life, as opposed to mine. But reading the article some 18 years ago, it really left a deep impression on me, since I was an impressionable boy of 12 back then, I had been rather puzzled by why a person has to use the word “Lord” so much in his prayer. It seemed to be a mark of fervency, yet at the same time, it seems to also betray a certain lack of thought and weighted-ness.

A person who uses the word “Lord” that way seems to be using it more as a stop-gap, when his thoughts could not keep up with the speed of his rambling, and so he needed to fill the silence. He seems to be more pre-occupied with a certain form that his prayer takes on, rather than the actual words he meant to say.

And so yes, the writer of the article took umbrage at that. And please dun say that because “Lord” is not really His name, the accusation is a tad harsh. Unless you happen to be referring to, say, Cheezels when you used the word “Lord”, you are, in fact, running the risk of calling upon the Lord in vain, using meaningless and repetitive words.

So let’s all try to show a little more self-awareness in how we pray, shall we? As much as the heart is right, it needs to be backed up with our actions as well. After all, that was what Jesus was referring to when he said that “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak”, isn’t it? We can’t be hiding behind the right spirit, and allow the flesh to continue being weak.