prayerism

grammys

LL Cool J acts as chaplain at Grammys

At a time when the music industry was mourning the loss of Whitney Houston, rapper LL Cool J acted as an impromptu chaplain to those at the Grammys and millions of viewers. As the Grammys opened, many viewers were wondering how the Grammys would incorporate the tragic loss of Houston’s death.

http://youtu.be/EccEBBR9VzQ

LL opened with these words:

“Tonight, we ask ourselves: How do we speak to this time, to this day? There is no way around this – we’ve had a death in our family. And so at least, for me… the only thing that feels right is to begin with a prayer for a woman that we loved, for a fallen sister, Whitney Houston.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for sharing our sister Whitney with us. Today our thoughts are with her mother, her daughter and all of her loved ones. And although she is gone too soon, we remain truly blessed to have been touched by her beautiful spirit and to have her lasting legacy of music to cherish and share forever. Amen.

That said, welcome to the 54th Grammy Awards.

prayer

3 Reasons Why You Believe in "Prayerism"

Is prayer becoming a religion unto itself? That was the question that The Wall Street Journal asked in its recent article entitled “Prayer’s Place in America.” A disconnect between prayer and religious affiliation has arrived:

39% of Americans attend church weekly yet 75% pray at least weekly, according to the Pew Religion Forum.
And maybe most remarkably: 35% of those who don’t identify with any religion at all — the “unaffiliated”– pray weekly or daily.
In fact, 58% overall, and 66% of American women pray daily.

With 39% of Americans attending church and 75% praying at least weekly, there seems to be a separation between religion and prayer. Or at least church attendance and prayer. If you are reading this blog, you probably do not attend church, but you are more likely to pray weekly. Statistically speaking of course.

The WSJ expounds on these notions:

But these statistics, as well as the popularity over the years of books like the Prayer of Jabez and The Secret and many other devotional books, show that prayer has become popular on its own, sometimes detached from the tradition of church. Call it Prayerism.

“Prayerism”. That’s a new term, but an old concept. The whole, “I’m not religious, I’m just spiritual” lends to this thinking of believing in prayer, but not attending church. Why?

Here are 3 reasons why you probably believe in “prayerism”, but don’t go to church:

LL Cool J acts as chaplain at Grammys

3 Reasons Why You Believe in "Prayerism"

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