Serving Bread

Being in a Muslim context, we hear the call to prayer five times a day. As the declaration reverberates through the loud speakers throughout the city, Layla innocently asks, “What is that?” The call to prayer urges all Muslims to stop what they are doing and begin preparations to pray.

The first one is at dawn, which after the first day, is something we learn to sleep through. Praying toward Mecca five times a day is one of the five pillars of Islam, called the Salah. Muslims are commanded to enter into a cleaning ritual and pray certain prescribed prayers.

I often hear people who express admiration for the devout Muslims who “religiously” follow the various tenets of Islam, and particularly their dedication toward prayer. Personally, I find it a bit lacking. Islam commands praying only five times a day?

In his first letter to the Church in Thessalonica, the Apostle Paul concludes with some parting words that urges the young church to, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5.16-18). The call to pray without ceasing describes to me the essence of what our prayer life should be. It is a picture of being in constant, continuous, and unending communion with God. There is no end and no beginning to praying. In some respects, we don’t ask, “When should we pray?” but “How should we pray?” (The exact questions the disciples ask in Matthew 6).

Islam and Muslims are not more holy because they pray five times a day. The act is a bit lacking. What challenges me is to be a person of prayer on a regular, consistent and continuous basis. When religion is reduced to prescribed prayers (whether it is 5 times a day or 50 times a day), it becomes a religion of motion rather than a religion of integrity.

I recognize that infusing certain disciplines into our life is helpful. I have found the Celtic prayers to be helpful vehicles for deeper faith and consistency in my prayer life. However, those are vehicles, not an end in of themselves.

This particular pillar of Islam (and Islam itself) does not make it an overwhelming religion. In some respects, it points to how underwhelming of a religion it actually is. God wants more than just five utterances a day. In fact, I want more in my relationship with and communication with God than merely five utterances a day.

(My colleague has come up with further thoughts and reflections) 

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