English Chantry
As i was listening to the radio the other day, i was surprised to hear my local country station DJ talking about the prayer that he had just purchased and had his computer say for him. Yes…the prayer his computer said for him! There is a new group that has come along recently called Information Age Prayer. Their mission: To help “those who are unable to pray as frequently as they would like.” They do so by using the latest text to speech synthesizers which help them to charge any prayer purchaser the lowest rate possible for daily read prayers!
IAP offers prayers that are, according to them, beneficial for many religions. A good number of Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and Islamic prayers are available for purchase in a variety of packages, with new prayer packages constantly being added. For example, a Catholic can purchase a basic package containing a few simple prayers a day, or according to IAP’s website, a good Catholic can “show God they are serious” by purchasing their complete rosary package!
IAP charges a monthly fee to daily voice prayers over the computer for those who have purchased them. And when asked why this would work, IAP replies that since God is omniscient, He will hear all the prayers that are voiced and see the purchaser’s name on the computer screen. And since 10% of their prayer fees go to charity, God will also see that part of one’s payment for their prayers went to a good cause and He will bless the purchaser for that as well.
Now before you go off thinking that this is the mark of the Beast or something of that order, you would do well to understand that daily purchased prayers are something that has been around for hundreds of years. In the mid 1100′s in England, Chantries begin popping up on the side of various monasteries and churches. They were basically small buildings where a monk or group of monks would take turns praying for wealthy individuals who would pray for prayers to be said on their behalf. This would occur either a few times a day, or for some individuals, 24 hours a day! And while some monks daily prayed diligently for their prayer purchasers, record has shown that some monks simply used their chantry for a mid-afternoon nap! In the end, most chantries were destroyed in the mid-1500′s by King Henry VIII after they were not deemed as beneficial to the country.
In the same way, these online prayer services will only last for a set period of time, for prayer is personal. And if more grace or special merit was obtained by the number of prayers that one chanted or had played aloud, i’m sure that many of us would have already had a continual loop of our prayers being played for us daily. Thankfully, the power of prayer comes not from the one who is praying, or the amount that they pray, but from the One to whom the prayers are directed if they are being directed to God the Father through the one and only mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ! And yes, God the Father is omniscient as IAP states, but unfortunately for them, He does not look at what comes out of the mouth (or computer speaker), or is displayed on a screen, but instead He knows that what springs from the mouth comes from the heart. And no computer service can fix the sin that is the root of our heart problems, for only Christ can do that!
On our flight back from Nashville yesterday, Keri and I had the pleasure of sitting beside a young man who attended NC State. After our initial conversation regarding our woes of Clemson football (he’s a closet Tiger fan!), I turned the conversation to a spiritual one. When i asked him what his beliefs were, he quickly responded that he was a Christian. But after some more conversation, he asked me what my thoughts were regarding the inspiration of Scripture, as well as if there are really people in hell. Sadly, my new found friend described himself as a Christian, yet struggled in believing the full inspiration and authority of Scripture, as well as the justness of God. He struggled with believing that people were in Hell today b/c God is love. 
With the Raleigh St. Patrick’s Day parade tomorrow, many of our fellow North-Carolinians are looking forward to this yearly of festivity. And unfortunately, many see this opportunity as a free pass to get plastered. 
