Two types of prayer.

I'm flipping through the channels and I happen across "The O'Reilly Factor",not being a regular viewer I actually stopped, But I can't say exactly why, it could have been sheer curiosity or a desire to see what was going on in the "No Spin Zone".

So Bill is sitting there with Alan Colmes and Monica Crowley. They're doing a bit called between Barack and a hard place, how infinitely clever. Crowley and Colmes' job is to highlight the best and worst thing the president has done in the last week. Without trying to remember everything that was said, suffice it to say each spoke to their target group. Crowley was allowed to have the last word, so at the end of the segment Colmes begins to defend the president's course of action. There is a bit of talking over each other before they calm down so Bill can go to a commercial or whatever. When he says to Crowley, "will you pray for Alan?", then, "We'll pray for you Alan".

WHAT?!?!

Some questions first come to mind. Why are they praying only for Alan Colmes? What exactly are they praying for? It seemed to me they were praying he (Colmes) change the way he thought about the President. Praying he see things the republican way, the "right" way. This is a microcosm of what is wrong with the Church today. Believers should take pray seriously, for it is our duty. Intercessory prayer is one of the greatest responsibilities of the followers of Jesus Christ. The fact that it felt completely insincere really bothered me. Imagine the millions that watch The Factor, he is often top in his time slot. Someone might get the idea that this is what Christians are supposed to pray for! Political ideals. Jesus lived in a time when the Jewish people were under roman rule. They could be asked to carry a soldiers pack at anytime. Jesus didn't pray for the Romans to see it his way. He changed lives and hearts through service to others. That's an entry for a later date. The point his our prayer without ceasing shouldn't be spent getting people to think a certain way. My most frequent prayer is that God work in MY heart. because I haven't got it all figured out. Which is the exact opposite notion of O'Reilly's suggestion. Rather than be objective, or better yet simply tell him you disagree. Those things can be done without hijacking religion. His position is that He already knows and conforms to God's will so it is his guests who needs praying for. Maybe I'm being harsh. But what if I'm not? Again millions of viewers, and there would be enough non-believers among them, to make this thought process not at all far-fetched.

I wonder what the world would be like if more people started praying the way Jesus taught and less like Bill O'Reilly suggests