Yesterday’s Scripture reading was the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, three people who refused to worship anyone or anything other than the God of Israel. This angered King Nebuchadnezzar who had demanded that they worship a golden idol. The king commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be tossed into a white-hot furnace. Before falling headlong into the furnace, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego said,

“Great Ruler, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If you throw us into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to overcome the blaze and rescue us from your hand. But even if God does not rescue us, we want you to know, Great Ruler, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold that you set up.” (Daniel 3:16-18)

I am always struck by the response of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They trusted fully in God and at the same time did not require that God answer their prayer to be saved from torture and death. “Even if God does not rescue us …” they said, they would remain committed to God and take this stand with and for God, and with one another. To me, that is the ultimate form of living passionately for God, yet being “detached” from the outcome — leaving God free, as it were, to respond however God choose to respond. Too often we put conditions and qualifications and “buts” to our requests. We tell God what our desired outcome is and, if that outcome doesn’t happen, we might think that God does not hear us or answer our prayers.

Can we really pray and ask God to answer us and be open to however God responds? I think of Jesus himself in the garden of Gethsemane. He certainly had a desired outcome: he did not wish to be tortured and killed. But, and this is huge, more important than his own desire, he wanted what God wanted — whatever it turned out to be.

“Abba, if it’s your will, take this cup from me; yet not my will but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42)

As we move towards Holy Week, let us ponder the words and faith of Jesus and of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. What new or deeper understanding might we have of our prayers, our desires, and our faith in God?

Listen to this reading and prayer from last night’s Praying with the Sisters podcast.

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Question from Nathalie that raises an interesting topic …

… is it okay to pray for Jesus? I mean, I know we pray TO Jesus, but… I really would like to pray for him… because he and his message are often misunderstood, misused and abused – to serve self-centered ends. I guess he probably doesn’t NEED us to pray for him, but… I don’t know. I just want to pray for him.

Hi Nathalie, Good question! My first response is that yes, it’s okay to pray for Jesus. Prayer, after all, is talking and listening to God. When we pray for someone, we are in relationship with God and bringing the person and her/his needs before God. At their heart, “praying for” and “praying to” are actually more like “praying with” than anything. So with Jesus, we are deepening our relationship with him, consciously bringing the cares and concerns of Jesus to the forefront while we are with him. While Jesus is God and so does not “need” anything per se, prayers for Jesus are like what you wrote — that he and his message be understood and lived from the heart.

Another way to understand “praying for Jesus”, is more along the lines of how the writers of the Hebrew Scriptures spoke of “blessing God”. You’ll find this kind of language in many places, especially in psalms and canticles. One of my most favorite ones is the canticle of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the book of Daniel 3 (in a Catholic Bible). The three were tossed into a white-hot furnace as punishment for going against King Nebuchadnezzar’s decree to worship his gods, not the God of Israel. Instead of certain death, the three walked around singing and blessing God. Here’s part of their canticle:

Bless the Lord, all people on earth; sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.
Bless the Lord, O Israel; sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.
Bless the Lord, you priests of the Lord; sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.
Bless the Lord, you servants of the Lord; sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.
Bless the Lord, spirits and souls of the righteous; sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.
Bless the Lord, you who are holy and humble in heart; sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever. (NRSV translation)

How else might we understand “praying for Jesus”? What is your own experience of this?

As Thanksgiving nears and Advent is just around the corner, I am filled with so much anticipation and joy. The words that keep running through my mind and heart right now are from the prayer of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego which they sang after being thrown into the white-hot furnace by King Nebuchadnezzar because they would not worship the King’s idols (Book of Daniel, Chapter 3).

Beginning in verse 52, the three Jewish men bless and glorify God for having saved them from death. What a sight it must have been to see these three walking around a burning, flaming furnace singing and praising the Lord! Their song of praise begins:

Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord, praise and exalt him above all forever.
Angels of the Lord, bless the Lord, praise and exalt him above all forever.
You heavens, bless the Lord, praise and exalt him above all forever.

They continue, calling on every bit of creation to “bless the Lord, praise and exalt him above all forever”. This is one of my most favorite expressions of thanksgiving!

What are you thankful for in this wonderful season of Thanksgiving and anticipation of Advent?