Praying Metaphorically

            We can’t help it, really. Although “praying metaphorically” might seem “out there” (to use a metaphor), it is already as common to us as light and darkness.

            In Scripture, we are told that God is father, judge, bridegroom, mother hen, warrior, Prince of Peace, lover, friend, thief in the night, door, bread, and more.  As his people, we are children, the prosecuted, his bride, the chicks, soldiers, peacemakers, the beloved, friends, property owners, door-knob turners, bread-eaters, and more. 

            These metaphors are not frivolous embellishments of ideas; our knowledge of God is in the metaphors.  I believe our prayers might be enriched if we accentuated these comparisons.

            One way to pray metaphorically is to take a biblical metaphor and extend it when speaking to the Lord.  Let’s take “Lord,” an aristocratic metaphor.  We might recognize ourselves as servants in our Lord’s household, with no rights, utterly dependent on his merciful decisions.  Or, if Jesus is the bridegroom, we might pray for strength to stay loyal to our vows, to act as if we are secure in his love, ready to live out union with him. 

            Another idea is to create new metaphors and pray through them.  What if we were to pray as a cub seeking the protection of our Father Bear.  Or how about praying to the Star of Stars, the most worth Celebrity of all, deserving of fame, the Renowned One who has given us a map to his home and an autographed copy of his biography?  Is this imaginative work sacrilegious? It could be, if we misrepresent God—but I’m not sure this would be any worse than using obscure metaphors in stale ways, never asking what the comparisons evoke.

            Praying metaphorically means dwelling in the images long and deep enough that they reveal new aspects of our Heavenly King (or President or CEO or . . . ). 

Praying metaphorically involves letting God speak to us through new images, through words and visions that lift us higher, even those images that are drawn from the stuff of everyday life. 

Metaphors were good enough for Jesus.  Thank God we can see him with them too.

O God, Director of Directors, help me to play my part well.  Call out of me the expressions that best tell the story you want to tell.  May I submit to your direction while working hard to produce the character you ask of me.  Amen.