Okay, let me say right up front here that this is about me and my problem(s). This is not about genuine problems with prayer, but the difficulties I face and the questions I have. There it is, right up front, so no one is thinking I'm dispensing wisdom or sounding warnings or any such thing.
It is not really possible to separate "Christian" from "prayer". Religion in general demands prayer. Christianity is no exception. Paul said we should "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess 5:17). Jesus spoke of perseverance in prayer (Luke 18:1-5). "He told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart." He taught His disciples to pray and prayed Himself. We have several of His very prayers recorded in Scripture. "Christian" and "prayer" go together like hand and glove. So ... what's the problem?
My problem is that I don't really fully get it. First, there is the problem of God's Omniscience. He already knows what I will ask before I ask it (Matt 6:8). That's not my opinion; Jesus said it. So how is my asking going to alter anything? Next is the problem of God's Immutability. He doesn't change. Specifically, He doesn't change His mind (Num 23:19; Psa 110:4). Is it my view that my prayers are going to change His mind? "Oh, thank you, Stan. I hadn't considered that possibility. You're right; your way is much better than mine. Thanks for pointing that out." Not gonna happen. And, of course, there is the problem of His Sovereignty. In the end, God will always do what God will do. There is nothing upon which God is unsettled. "Will I do this? I don't know. I'm waiting for Stan to ask." There is no point at which God would say, "Well, my will was to accomplish this, but Stan never asked, so I couldn't." Conversely, there is nothing about which God would say, "Well, I intended to do that, but since Stan asked for something else, I didn't." God always does what God plans to do with or without my input. Consider this. I am, from my particular biblical understanding, "Reformed" in my view. That means that I believe that God chose from all eternity who would be saved. So, here I am, talking to God about that person who really needs to know Him. Someone I really care about. I beat the throne of grace with my fists and call out, "Dear Father, call him/her to Yourself!" Because, you see, while I believe God knows whom He will save, I don't. So I ask. I beg. I cry out. I persevere in it. And it doesn't really make a difference, does it? I mean, God isn't going to choose to save someone He didn't plan to save because I asked, nor is there anyone He planned to save that won't be saved because I failed to ask. It isn't a function of my prayer or my perseverance. It's about God and His work. So, what is prayer about?
Part of my problem (my problem, not God's or the Bible's or ...) is what the Bible says about prayer. Jesus, for instance, told His disciples, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you" (John 15:7). Wow! That's pretty broad. But, of course, I can do the language dance. "If you abide in Him you will want what He wants so you will be asking for whatever is in His will." Is that true? Or how about where Jesus said, "If you ask me anything in My name, I will do it." (John 14:14)? So, if I pray "in Jesus name, Amen" it is a magical formula that gets me what I asked for? Well, of course not. I'm asking "in His name" meaning under His authority and for His purposes. But ... does that really solve my dilemma? Those were actually the least troublesome things Jesus said on prayer. He said, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you" (Matt 7:7). That one is without conditions except to ask. He told His disciples, "I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours" (Mark 11:24). Two conditions there. 1) Ask. 2) Believe that you have received it. Done! So apparently if I ask and have some sort of positive thinking mind trick going on -- you know, I can psyche myself out to believe something that is not true (because I have not received it yet or I wouldn't be asking) -- I can convert God into the biggest, best Cosmic Butler of all time. Doesn't matter if it was His will. Doesn't matter if I was abiding in Him. Doesn't matter if it's godly or sinful. As long as I believe I received it, it's mine! Promise made! I'm waiting ...
Well, you can see that this isn't easy for me. I don't believe that God bends to my will or supplies my wishes against His will or is even in need of any input from me. Why, then, do I pray? John Bunyan wrote, "Pray often; for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan." That's odd, isn't it? Where is the "When do I get mine?" I don't see where the "God will give you what you want" part is found. And that is the conclusion I've come to on prayer. Prayer is not about getting what I want -- noble or ignoble -- from God. Prayer is about connecting to God. It focuses my attention where it ought to be. It turns my thoughts toward God. It provides a link, a connection, a conversation with God. I am convinced that too often we pray in order to get. James says, "You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions" (James 4:2-3). We are asking God for what we want. If He fails to provide what we want, He hasn't come through for us. He's ... wrong. That should throw up all kinds of red flags in our heads. If we are praying to get God to ... there, you see it? If we are praying to get God to ... do anything, give us something, to act, then are we not seeking our own rather than His benefit?
I am clearly not settled on the topic of prayer. Here's what I do know. Christians are supposed to pray. We're supposed to pray often. We're supposed to pray in faith. We're supposed to pray for God's will. And while God is not limited to nor dependent on our prayers, He uses them. All of that I know. For me, then, prayer has become a ... conversation piece, so to speak. I get to sit in my Father's lap and tell Him about my day, my fears, my dreams, my wishes. I tell Him what I want and don't want. I ask for things and thank Him for things and by all means confess things. Prayer is not my magic tool to get God to do what I want. It's an amazing instrument for me to connect with God. Maybe prayer is something else to you. Maybe it's more. Hopefully it's not less. Because clearly I'm not yet completely clear on the topic. Maybe you are. Any help?
2 comments:
I view prayer as a tool God uses for us. Just as the Sabbath was made for Man, not Man for the Sabbath, prayer was made for Man, not for God. As you said, it focuses our thoughts on Him. It is our means of expressing ourselves to Him and opening ourselves to His voice. I do have to believe that prayer does change God's mind...from our point of view. We have many, many examples of God "changing" His mind, or "backing down" at the behest of a prayer. Ultimately, it was His plan from the foundations of the earth, but from our point of view it has an effect. If it did not, we would not be told to ask. We would be told to talk, confess, praise, thank, but not to ask. We know there is effective prayer, and while it is not Effective, it is effective (if that makes sense). We ask for something, say a miraculous healing, and we get it. From our point of view, our prayers were effective. But God planned, controlled, ordained both the illness and the healing from eternity. It is all about perspective.
Someone (someone you know) told me once, "It's like when kids are little and they point to a glass of water and grunt. You know what they want and you even plan to give it to them, but you want them to learn to express themselves to you, so you tell them, 'Water? Do you want water?' You want them to tell you." It is a child-to-parent kind of connection that does indeed produce results especially from the child's perspective ... which doesn't nullify the fact that it produced results.
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