"Rightly Dividing" (874) is part of album 67: More than Meets the Eye What separates Adventures in Odyssey from a lot of other Christian shows is that, instead of teaching listeners solely about the power of prayer, they’ve spent a considerable amount of time teaching us how to pray. The show has taught us how to pray in episodes such as “And When you Pray…”, “The Graduate”, “The Nudge”, and now, “Rightly Dividing”. As Christians, understanding prayer is important -- confusion about exactly what it is and how it works can leave many feeling frustrated and hopeless, and may even lead to some Christians eventually walking away from the faith.
What distinguishes “Rightly Dividing” from those other prayer-centric episodes is that it packs a surprisingly powerful emotional punch. I can’t shake the moving scene in which Sarah explains to Camilla that she’s waiting for a cornea transplant. While I’m generally not too keen on when Adventures in Odyssey tries to solve a kid’s very simple, slice-of-life problem by presenting them with a much more serious problem, the juxtaposition between Sarah’s prayer and Camilla’s is effective here, and helps illustrate how we often approach prayer with selfish and trivial intentions.
Sarah’s story, based on the true-life-story of Sarah Keimig, host of the Unofficial Adventures in Odyssey in Podcast, felt incredibly poignant and, in the following days, led me to reflect on just how I pray. Admittedly, I spend much of my prayer time praying for my own success -- including my own health and safety. I probably don’t spend enough time praying for my competitors, my “enemies”, or even for those who have irritated me in small ways throughout the day. Too often, I admit, my prayers are self-centered. I don’t often consider - as this episode reminded me - those who might “lose” if I “win”.
Though, I started to wonder, is “Rightly Dividing” telling me I shouldn’t ask God to “win”? In that case, should I not pray that God provides me with a job if it means that someone else might not get that job? Should I not pray for good weather during a road trip if it means nearby farmers won’t get rain for their crops? Should a Christian organization not pray for donations if it means another group not getting that same money? If I were to lay out all of my everyday prayers, I’m sure I could nitpick every single one to find out how there’s - for lack of a better word - a potential “loser” in my requests. Is it really better to agonize, to spend countless hours considering all angles -- all possible “losers” -- before we pray? Wouldn’t that drive us mad?
Somehow, it doesn’t seem right to “edit” or “police” our own prayers, as I momentarily suspected this episode was suggesting. So I went back to listen to what AIO taught us about prayer in the past. I noticed that “And When You Pray”, Mr. Whittaker lays out a simple description of prayer, “[Prayer is] talking with God. It’s a conversation [...] He wants to hear what you’re thinking and feeling. You can confess to him when you sin. You can ask him to help other people. Yes, and you can even ask him for things for you” . Since prayer is a conversation with God, who wants to hear what “you’re thinking and feeling,'’ I suppose I’m not convinced that we should stop ourselves from bringing forth selfish desires/wants before God.
So what then are we to make of Pastor Knox’s statement “Praying for God’s favor seems to imply that you and your team are more worthy of God’s blessings than your rivals”? Is it really suggesting that we shouldn’t pray to God for everything, or that we should take a moment to think first before praying? Or, perhaps, neither? Interestingly, the key to understanding this episode is by paying close attention to the storyline of Declan and Lou, which, interestingly, has nothing to do with prayer, but which ultimately teaches us to form our hearts to be Christ-like. Lou gives Declan the advice to “do unto others” and to “forgive”, but he carries out these actions without understanding Christ’s meaning behind these commands. Likewise, Camilla prays to God, as she should, but both her tongue and heart do not yet reflect His message of love and humility.
Our hearts will change as we continuously pray and listen to Him, and, with time, our prayers will change also. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said it best in “The Prayer Book of Psalms”: “And so we must learn how to pray. The child learns to speak because his father speaks to him. He learns the speech of the father. So we learn to speak to God because God has spoken to us and speaks to us.” I think God wants to hear all of the desires of our hearts, including those “selfish prayers”, since it would be disingenuous to approach God pretending we’re someone we’re not...but these prayers might eventually change as we are changed through Him.
That said, I wonder if Chris muddies this message at the end when she says, "maybe that’s one of the reasons that Jesus, in Matthew chapter 6, taught his disciples to pray that God’s will be done -- that ensures that the outcome will be the best for everyone -- since God alone knows what we truly need." Two things. First, it’s worth noting that although God taught his disciples to pray, he also taught his disciples to ask for things (“Give us our daily bread [...] lead us not into temptation”). Secondly, either because of how it’s phrased or Chris’s emphasis (you let me know after you listen), the sentence strongly implies that how we pray is what ultimately sways the outcome, and that God wouldn’t ensure that His “will be done” even if we didn’t ask for it in our prayers. I personally don't think that’s how prayer works. As Adam says in John Milton’s epic-poem Paradise Lost:
“If by prayer
Incessant I could hope to change the will
Of him who all things can, I would not cease
To weary him with my assiduous cries;
But prayer against his absolute decree
No more avails than breath against the wind
Blown stifling back on him that breathes it forth:
Therefore to his great bidding I submit.”
I confess I don’t understand everything about prayer. My views are still being shaped as I pray day by day. As Chris said in “And when you pray”, “At one time or another, everybody who loves Jesus comes face to face with their beliefs about prayer…”. That’s what makes “Rightly Dividing”, with its unique ideas about prayer, yet another good resource for Christians.
Let me leave you with this: As I write this, the news is bombarding us with reports of terrible things occurring in the world. There’s a lot of senseless violence and tragedy. Amidst it all, there’s also a renewed discussion about prayer: is prayer the action of those who are lazy, and choose to do nothing in the midst of tragedy, or is prayer the perfect sort of action that can affect real life results in meaningful ways? (i.e. will more prayers result in fewer deaths?) Whatever the answers are, I think “Rightly Dividing” is an engaging -- and quite moving! -- episode that reminds us that prayer is an act of humility, where we are in a position to listen, and, as a result, become more like Him. I think any action where we are changed and renewed is a pretty good one.
PS: Several Odyssey fans have complained that this episode featured too many new characters, such as Declan, Sarah, Mickey, and Lou (who was introduced very recently in The Toy). I didn’t mind it. In fact, I’m encouraged by the fact that the show is changing its cast of younger actors. For the past few years, I’ve voiced my criticism that the cast members of Adventures in Odyssey aren’t sounding distinct enough. And while Declan’s voice borders on being a little too cartoonish for my taste (he’s rather reminiscent of Nicholas Adamsworth, isn’t he?), I like the fact that I could listen to the episode and easily -- within a split second -- distinguish one from another. Voices should really elicit within listeners a quick understanding of their personality, as these did.
What distinguishes “Rightly Dividing” from those other prayer-centric episodes is that it packs a surprisingly powerful emotional punch. I can’t shake the moving scene in which Sarah explains to Camilla that she’s waiting for a cornea transplant. While I’m generally not too keen on when Adventures in Odyssey tries to solve a kid’s very simple, slice-of-life problem by presenting them with a much more serious problem, the juxtaposition between Sarah’s prayer and Camilla’s is effective here, and helps illustrate how we often approach prayer with selfish and trivial intentions.
Sarah’s story, based on the true-life-story of Sarah Keimig, host of the Unofficial Adventures in Odyssey in Podcast, felt incredibly poignant and, in the following days, led me to reflect on just how I pray. Admittedly, I spend much of my prayer time praying for my own success -- including my own health and safety. I probably don’t spend enough time praying for my competitors, my “enemies”, or even for those who have irritated me in small ways throughout the day. Too often, I admit, my prayers are self-centered. I don’t often consider - as this episode reminded me - those who might “lose” if I “win”.
Though, I started to wonder, is “Rightly Dividing” telling me I shouldn’t ask God to “win”? In that case, should I not pray that God provides me with a job if it means that someone else might not get that job? Should I not pray for good weather during a road trip if it means nearby farmers won’t get rain for their crops? Should a Christian organization not pray for donations if it means another group not getting that same money? If I were to lay out all of my everyday prayers, I’m sure I could nitpick every single one to find out how there’s - for lack of a better word - a potential “loser” in my requests. Is it really better to agonize, to spend countless hours considering all angles -- all possible “losers” -- before we pray? Wouldn’t that drive us mad?
Somehow, it doesn’t seem right to “edit” or “police” our own prayers, as I momentarily suspected this episode was suggesting. So I went back to listen to what AIO taught us about prayer in the past. I noticed that “And When You Pray”, Mr. Whittaker lays out a simple description of prayer, “[Prayer is] talking with God. It’s a conversation [...] He wants to hear what you’re thinking and feeling. You can confess to him when you sin. You can ask him to help other people. Yes, and you can even ask him for things for you” . Since prayer is a conversation with God, who wants to hear what “you’re thinking and feeling,'’ I suppose I’m not convinced that we should stop ourselves from bringing forth selfish desires/wants before God.
So what then are we to make of Pastor Knox’s statement “Praying for God’s favor seems to imply that you and your team are more worthy of God’s blessings than your rivals”? Is it really suggesting that we shouldn’t pray to God for everything, or that we should take a moment to think first before praying? Or, perhaps, neither? Interestingly, the key to understanding this episode is by paying close attention to the storyline of Declan and Lou, which, interestingly, has nothing to do with prayer, but which ultimately teaches us to form our hearts to be Christ-like. Lou gives Declan the advice to “do unto others” and to “forgive”, but he carries out these actions without understanding Christ’s meaning behind these commands. Likewise, Camilla prays to God, as she should, but both her tongue and heart do not yet reflect His message of love and humility.
Our hearts will change as we continuously pray and listen to Him, and, with time, our prayers will change also. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said it best in “The Prayer Book of Psalms”: “And so we must learn how to pray. The child learns to speak because his father speaks to him. He learns the speech of the father. So we learn to speak to God because God has spoken to us and speaks to us.” I think God wants to hear all of the desires of our hearts, including those “selfish prayers”, since it would be disingenuous to approach God pretending we’re someone we’re not...but these prayers might eventually change as we are changed through Him.
That said, I wonder if Chris muddies this message at the end when she says, "maybe that’s one of the reasons that Jesus, in Matthew chapter 6, taught his disciples to pray that God’s will be done -- that ensures that the outcome will be the best for everyone -- since God alone knows what we truly need." Two things. First, it’s worth noting that although God taught his disciples to pray, he also taught his disciples to ask for things (“Give us our daily bread [...] lead us not into temptation”). Secondly, either because of how it’s phrased or Chris’s emphasis (you let me know after you listen), the sentence strongly implies that how we pray is what ultimately sways the outcome, and that God wouldn’t ensure that His “will be done” even if we didn’t ask for it in our prayers. I personally don't think that’s how prayer works. As Adam says in John Milton’s epic-poem Paradise Lost:
“If by prayer
Incessant I could hope to change the will
Of him who all things can, I would not cease
To weary him with my assiduous cries;
But prayer against his absolute decree
No more avails than breath against the wind
Blown stifling back on him that breathes it forth:
Therefore to his great bidding I submit.”
I confess I don’t understand everything about prayer. My views are still being shaped as I pray day by day. As Chris said in “And when you pray”, “At one time or another, everybody who loves Jesus comes face to face with their beliefs about prayer…”. That’s what makes “Rightly Dividing”, with its unique ideas about prayer, yet another good resource for Christians.
Let me leave you with this: As I write this, the news is bombarding us with reports of terrible things occurring in the world. There’s a lot of senseless violence and tragedy. Amidst it all, there’s also a renewed discussion about prayer: is prayer the action of those who are lazy, and choose to do nothing in the midst of tragedy, or is prayer the perfect sort of action that can affect real life results in meaningful ways? (i.e. will more prayers result in fewer deaths?) Whatever the answers are, I think “Rightly Dividing” is an engaging -- and quite moving! -- episode that reminds us that prayer is an act of humility, where we are in a position to listen, and, as a result, become more like Him. I think any action where we are changed and renewed is a pretty good one.
PS: Several Odyssey fans have complained that this episode featured too many new characters, such as Declan, Sarah, Mickey, and Lou (who was introduced very recently in The Toy). I didn’t mind it. In fact, I’m encouraged by the fact that the show is changing its cast of younger actors. For the past few years, I’ve voiced my criticism that the cast members of Adventures in Odyssey aren’t sounding distinct enough. And while Declan’s voice borders on being a little too cartoonish for my taste (he’s rather reminiscent of Nicholas Adamsworth, isn’t he?), I like the fact that I could listen to the episode and easily -- within a split second -- distinguish one from another. Voices should really elicit within listeners a quick understanding of their personality, as these did.
Writer: Phil Lollar
Director: Phil Lollar
Executive Producer: Dave Arnold
Post-Production: Nathan Jones
Music: John Campbell
Theme: Prayer
Original Release Date: 07.09.19
Review Published: 08.14.19