Pancakes and Prayers (Friday Devotional)

 

In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.

- Mark 1:35

Jim Palmer, over the course of his 19-year career with the Baltimore Orioles, distinguished himself in any number of ways. Three different seasons he won the Cy Young Award, given to the best pitcher in the league. Six times he was named to the All-Star team. He pitched in six different World Series, helping lead the Orioles to championships three times. He is widely regarded as one of the best pitchers in baseball history.

But in addition to all his accolades, he also had one of the game’s strangest pregame routines, a superstition that earned him the nickname “Cakes.” In June 1966, he ate a hearty meal of pancakes before one start and then proceeded to throw 5 shutout innings. The next game he did the same thing, and this time his teammates supported him with 16 runs of offense. However, on the day of his next start, a plane delay prevented him from enjoying another preparatory pancake breakfast—and he subsequently lost in a blowout to the Kansas City Royals. For the rest of the 1966 season, Jim “Cakes” Palmer vowed not to miss a pancake breakfast again. “I don’t know whether missing my pancakes breakfast had any bearing on the game,” he told reporters. “But I don’t want to find out.”

In the gospels, we learn about a different sort of routine which Jesus had—one not nearly so strange or unorthodox as Palmer’s. Early in the mornings, Jesus would frequently leave his disciples to spend some time in solitary prayer. Before he could spend the day ministering to his followers, he first needed to draw strength from his Father.

In a spirit of imitation, many believers today—I count myself in this group—spend a few minutes each morning doing what Jesus did, praying and reading the Bible before moving into the day’s responsibilities. Just a few moments of solitude and study can change the course of the day, setting a tone of righteousness first thing.

This routine isn’t necessarily for everybody—some people can’t stand the mornings; other people have a hard time focusing in total quiet. There’s no law that says you must have a ‘quiet time’ every single day; plenty of saints throughout the generations have grown in faith with any such routine. But it worked for Jesus. It works for me. And like “Cakes” Palmer said about his breakfast superstition—I don’t know whether it’s the difference maker, but I don’t want to find out!