A couple folks have been blogging about how we use the word “just” when we pray. Jan at The View From Her has a funny post about some of the strange things people say while praying:

And of course, many of us have noted the use of the word “just.” As in, “God, we just thank you for just being with us.” What’s that about?

Jan references an earlier post by Fred Sanders at Middlebrow. In his post he chews on this word “just.”  Is it a minimizing word or an intensifier? I particularly like this quote:

So goes the gripe, and the stand-up comics of devotion have an easy target to shoot at when mocking the habits of the simple believer at prayer. I admit to having such thoughts myself while trying to pray along with a brother or sister whose words wander too far into the “Lord just Lord just Lord just Lord” range. Of course I blame myself for having such a hyperactive inner critic that when I ought to be saying “amen” to the prayer of a friend, instead I’m saying “bad sentence, man.” But beyond legitimate self-reproach, are there any steps to take that might actually make me better disposed toward such a widespread speech pattern?

Fred makes a good point. We shouldn’t be quick to criticize the prayers of others.  After all they aren’t, strictly speaking, speaking to us. Furthermore, very few people are comfortable praying in public. When we pray it can become a theatrical performance rather than a conversation with the divine. At times we use our prayers to give indirect words of counsel to those who are listening: “Lord, I pray that each one of us will find ways to reach out to our neighbors by participating in the door-to-door evangelism campaign…”

Let me just say a few words about the use of the word “just.” Look at these sentences:

1. I just arrived.
2. I just called to say I love you.
3. He just freaked out when I told him.

These are all adverbial uses of the word “just.” This word also can be used as a verb and an adjective. Re-express each of the sentences replacing the word “just” with another word or phrase.  Your examples might look something like this:

1. I arrived a few minutes ago.
2. The reason I called is to say I love you.
3. He really freaked out when I told him.

Now let’s look at a couple sterotypical adverbial usages of the word “just.”

a. Lord, we just want to thank you for all you’ve done.

b. Lord, we’ve just come here today to praise you.

Comparing these sentences to the examples above, how is “just” being used in these prayers? They might be expressed this way:

a. Lord, we really want to thank you for all you’ve done.

b. Lord, the reason we’ve come here today is to praise you.

If you invert them you’ll see that they don’t make any sense:

* a. Lord, the reason we want to thank you for all you’ve done.

* b. Lord, we’ve really come here today to praise you.

In summary, “just” when used in prayers seems to have two main functions:

1. To emphasize a statement.

2. To indicate a reason for something.

Is it wrong to use the word “just” in our prayers?  Of course not.  But it is worth considering whether we overuse words.  Overusing words like “just” and “Lord” can distract others without adding anything to our prayers. Sometimes when you hear someone praying, you get the feeling that “the Lord” is either a two-year old with a short attention span or an old man that keeps falling asleep. “Lord, we thank you, Lord, for, Lord, being so good to us.”

I haven’t exhaustively looked at the adverbial senses of “just”  but I think this post gives the major ways “just” is used in prayers in English.  I’d be curious to hear if this is just an American phenomenon or if it happens in other englishes as well.