Sick to the gills with politicians offering their “thoughts and prayers” without actually doing anything about the issues that lead to the tragedies that break our hearts? Us, too. So what do genuine prayers do? Do they change situations, or do they change us? Kris digs around in the murky waters of prayer, projection, misdirected hopes, unheard prophets, and honest conversations about gun violence in the wake of the Las Vegas shooting, through the lens of Psalm 80:7-15.

Here’s Kris’s previous episode on your brain, and your brain on prayer: Episode 30: Be Careful What You Ask For.

Here’s Rev. Steve Garnaas-Holmes’ reflection Kris mentioned: “Worn spot.” You can read more of Pastor Steve’s reflections at UnfoldingLight.net.

Here’s a reflection on the Thomas Merton Prayer. The full text is here:

“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always, though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”

This is the clip from the episode of West Wing that Kris mentioned: “In God We Trust” (Season 6, Episode 20).

Here’s the cartoon a parishioner posted on Kris’s office door.