Love You, Bye

Jenn and I take turns praying at meals.

At one recent evening meal, it was my turn to pray.

Some of you know that when I'm hungry, I tend to get a little crazy. I also tend to get a little crazy when juggling more than a couple activities. This particular night, I was definitely more than a bit frazzled.

So we sat down to eat and I prayed.

Of course, I got to the point in the prayer when it was time to end.

Amen.

Right?

Wrong?

I heard, "Love you, bye," exit from my mouth.

I was thinking, "What in the heck just happened?:
At first, I was a little embarrassed by this. I mean, who says, "Love you, bye" to end a prayer. That is how my wife and I end phone conversations. That is not how you are supposed to end a prayer.

I have wondered about this situation, though, several times since its occurrence.

I mean, isn't prayer supposed to be a conversation with God? So where did the "Dears," "Amens," and other formalities start entering into the picture?

The worship band at Horizon used to joke around quite a bit before church. Then, invariably someone would say, "Okay, it's time to dial up." In other words, "It's time to pray." At the time, this just seemed part of the humor.

Maybe, though, prayer really is more like a phone conversation or a face-to-face conversation - a conversation with a spouse, friend, coworker, or parent.

"Love you, bye."