A while ago, I posted this video by John Piper. If he's right, which I think he is, the question arises in my mind: what's the prayer you pray when you go to the toilet? If nothing is supposed to be automatic, then what do you pray there without descending into flippancy, vulgarity or plain idiocy?
For what it's worth, here is my attempt at an answer.
Sin is sometimes represented in the Old Testament by excrement. Moreover, one of the names of Satan in the Gospels is Beelzebub, which some argue (I think it's a good one) means Lord of Dung.
So the prayer goes something like this based around 1 Thess 1:9-10
Father God, thank you for Jesus, through whom you have removed my guilt, cleansed me of my offensive rebellion against you, saved me from an eternity in Hell and released me from fellowship with the Devil to love and serve you in the power of the Holy Spirit now and forever. Amen.
Moreover, don't be too quick to spray the air freshener. In the Bible stenches are symbolic of offense. So the next time a stench fills your nostrils, let it remind you of what rebellion against God is like from his point of view and before you spray, ask him to show you what a sweet smelling life really looks like.
Maybe we could usefully pray something similar before applying deodorant. :-)
1 comment:
Er, yeah.... I think I'll stick with the deodorant routine
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