The Re - Prayer

My church softball league started up again last night, and despite the fact that we won, our team looked rather comical when we took to the field to play defense. Tons of missed throws, dropped balls, and of course yours truly bobbling the ball in the infield in classic Bald Wisdom style. While our bloopers are generally amusing, one particular blooper had us all holding our breath. Our left fielder, David, misplayed a fly ball that hit him in the forehead, cutting him open and leaving a nasty mark. While we laugh at it now, it was initially scary. Fortunately, he is doing well.

And as we do at the end of all our softball games, the teams gather together to pray. Usually the prayers go something like this:

"Dear God,

Thank you for allowing us to come out and play this wonderful game. Thank you that no one got hurt (this is the ultimate middle finger when prayed and someone did in fact get hurt) and we pray for traveling mercies on our way home.

Amen."

I was asked to pray, so naturally I prayed for David and the injury he sustained during the game. I walked back to the dugout and was one of the last players to arrive to the dugout, only to discover that another teammate of mine was laying hands on David and praying for him. A few things ran through my head:

1. Dang, my prayer sucked.

2. My teammate has a closer connection to God, and therefore was inclined to pray, knowing that my prayer lacked the efficacy needed to heal David.

3. I just fell victim to the Re-Prayer.

You see, the Re-Prayer is when you pray, and then someone afterwards tries to one up you by praying the exact same thing, but doing it with more class, sophistication, and style. In a group setting, the Re-Prayer is a brutal tactic, essentially telling someone that their prayer is garbage. It is for this reason that the Apostle Paul tells us to pray continuously, for the constant practice will sharpen our skills so that we do not fall victim to the dreaded Re-Prayer.