by likeabird 29 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
not a Long Prayer story but my husband tells the story of when he was offering a prayer at the end of a home Bible Study. He was leaning over his knees, head down and eyes closed. The family dog came up under his legs and stuck it's tongue down his throat. My husband has disliked Beagles ever since.
also I remember a Franz closing prayer, around 65', Candlestick Park, San Francisco, 45min, no kiddin
brother 'Armageddon -prayers'.. you never know when the end will come.. I like that!
LIKEABIRD- Good thread. Long prayers drove me bat-$hit crazy ! Brother Oldfart would thank " Jehovah " for the seats we sat on at the Kingdom hall, the freedom to meet openly, forgive us of our sins for the 90th time ! AHHHH ! I mean, I wanted to pull my hair out ! And as you mentioned I'd start leaning on the seat in front of me rocking back and forth to some rock & roll tune that would drift into my head just to survive he long prayer. Or if it happened ending assemblies ( which always seemed to be extraordinarily long prayers because the payer giver was trying to impress ) I would dream of what I was going to eat at dinner after the assembly. (I mean- my mind would wander in every direction during prayers. It made me wish I was a JW kid again so I could lay down on the floor and SLEEP through the prayer like my mom used to let me do. Gawd ! I'm glad I'm out o that messy organization these last 10 years ! Some of my observations
Some just don't get it, so after a mammoth prayer, I usually say " thanks for giving two public talks today"
or "Is this a new arrangement, to give an extra 10 min item after the service meeting?"
I usually get a blank look but, hopefully, what I am trying to tell them hits home later.
( going to the meetingzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz)
Those stories are priceless! Thanks everyone.
I cannot get my head around the concept of 45 minute prayers. Incredible. How did you survive it?
I remember one of the first threads I ever read on JWN was about prayer and repetition of the name Jehovah. One poster said he would count how many times people said Jeehovah in their prayers. I would love to find that post again, it was so funny. I mean from the start of any prayer, it's quite clear who the recipient is. When we're talking to our boss, imagine if we were to use their name in every single sentence if not twice.
It's like they expect fairy dust to fall on them every time they say the magic name.
(If anyone knows what thread I'm talking about, I would love to get the link)
There was always one person who gave those long prayers at the local meetings. I always tried my best to be patient and respectful of it. But then, I'm kind of too nice in that way.
The conventions were the worst because I'd sometimes feel like the floor was moving and I was going to lean forward and fall all the way down the rows of chairs. I'd have to open my eyes for a moment or two to regain my bearings.
--sd-7
I'll never forget the eight and one-half minute prayer that part-by-part summed up an entire DC that I suffered through about seven years ago.
The CO who yammered through it must have thought he was supposed to give another closing speech.
If we didn't listen to the talks as they were given there really isn't much point to rehashing it all at the end.
I had an uncle who was the king of the long prayer. The key to knowing we were in for a long prayer is whe he started addressing god in the 3rd person.
yeah...I recall Freddie Franz...his talk went double time (2 hours instead of one) and then the prayer...wow...I thought it would never end. I was walking the corridors with a crying baby....but even so, it was ridiculous.
Every cong has one at least!
I remember as a kid going to a special talk/day phone hook up about 2hrs from home. There was a venue close to home but my parents wanted to visit family that were going to this smaller venue. So there we were, me and my 2 brothers (one has a physical disability), my 2 cousins (boys), our parents and our grandmother. After the lunch break, our grandmother took all us boys aside and said she noticed us opening our eyes during the opening prayer and did we know how disrespectful that was and so on and so forth.
The day was long and hot. Us boys were just wanting to play and have fun and we were restless. The concluding prayer was given by Wally Baxter? (Aust branch) who was very old at the time. Our grandmother gave us the look so we knew that we had to behave, but the end was near! Or so we thought......
Wally's prayer went on foreeevveeerrrrrrr! Felt like hours, probably 10 mins but for small boys that was hell. My cousin was trying so hard to keep his eyes closed he started crying. My disabled brother was desperate to go to the toilet and ended up wetting his pants. Due to the ongoing drama around us, the rest of us boys opened our eyes. Boy did we cop it from my grandmother later!
Cheers, Ob
