LiveBooking: "Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus"

Exploring a life that is saturated in prayer

by Sam O'Neal

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It's time for another "LiveBooking" tour through Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus, by Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg. If you're not familiar with what's going on here, you can find some explanation from our first post on this idea several weeks back.

Teach Us to Pray
I'm going to skim over Chapter 6 pretty quickly—not because it wasn't interesting, but because the information is pretty specific and somewhat technical. The authors go into some very cool detail about Jewish customs with clothing and dress (would Jesus have worn a yarmulke, for example). They also take a look at some of the Jewish influences on what we know today as the Lord's Prayer.

Saturated in Prayer
As I read chapter 7, I was fascinated by the way the lives of Jewish people in Jesus' day were saturated by prayer—especially prayers of blessing and thanks to God. Here's a quick excerpt to give you an example:

In Jesus' time, you would probably have woken up to a rooster's crow. After thanking God for returning your soul to you for yet another day, you may have said: "Blessed is he who has given the rooster understanding to distinguish between day and night."
As you opened your eyes you would have prayed: "Blessed is he who opens the eyes of the blind," and then you would have said another dozen or so short prayers praise God for every body part still functioning.

What a way to start the day, huh? And the prayers of blessing kept going throughout the day. Spangler and Tverberg describe blessing prayers for the smell of fruit, for seeing the ocean, or for encountering a particularly beautiful person or compelling rabbi.

"This tradition of blessing God is one that takes a 'glass half full' approach to life," the authors write. "What a great way to avoid negativity and ingratitude, opening our eyes to God's provision! What might the world be like if more of us were to adopt this wonderful Jewish prayer custom?"

That's a good question. But more importantly, what would the Church be like? And how can we adopt these practices in our everyday lives?