Dear Lord, please leave me alone. Just let me sit here in my pew on Sunday, and Lord guard my seat, the last seat here in the back row.

Please don’t let anyone else try to sit here Lord… You know that’s my seat and dear Lord please get me home quickly after the service on Sunday, before these church people try to recruit me to actually do something that I don’t want to do.

Lord make them understand that I’m happy and content just to show up on Sunday.

 Heavenly Father, thank you for hearing my prayer but I’ve got to Go! Kickoff is only a half-hour away!! You understand Lord.

Thank you God for putting some great games on this week and thank you for the all sports cable channel. See you next Sunday Lord. Amen.

Thanks to Joan Stock for sharing this prayer. 

Does this prayer sound familiar to YOU? Have YOU prayed it recently?

This lighthearted “prayer” exposes a truth many of us quietly recognize in ourselves. It is easy to slip into a comfortable faith — one where God fits neatly into an hour on Sunday and never asks more of us than warming a pew.

We chuckle at the man guarding his seat in the back row, but the humor works because it touches something real: our tendency to keep God at a safe distance, especially when discipleship might interfere with our routines, our preferences, or our weekend plans.

Yet beneath the playful tone lies an invitation. Faith was never meant to be a spectator sport.

God doesn’t call us to comfort so much as to Communion, to participation, to service, to becoming part of the living Body of Christ. The irony is that the very things we avoid — connection, involvement, giving ourselves away — are often the places where God’s grace becomes most alive inside us.

The story reminds us that showing up is a good beginning, but not the end. God patiently waits for us to move from attendance to engagement, from convenience to commitment, from “leave me alone, Lord” to “send me, Lord.”

And unlike kickoff, God’s call never runs on a clock. His invitation is always there — quiet, persistent, and full of love — drawing us deeper than the back row.

MY LIFE IS FILLED WITH BROKEN PIECES, TERRIBLE CHOICES AND UGLY TRUTHS. IT’S ALSO FILLED WITH A MAJOR COMEBACK, PEACE IN MY SOUL, AND GRACE THAT SAVED MY LIFE!

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