In college, the pettiness and passions of youth becomes a part of every theological discussion. A lot of times to the outsider, these discussions seem to be about things that have no value except to stir up to dissension. It seems,(to the outsider again) that Bible students are in a big bubble and are ignorant of the fact when they leave, their midnight conversations about free will and providence will have no bearing on anything they do. There may be some merit to this criticism. And you always have the one who just likes to stir things up. But some thoughts expressed at certain times while in college, maybe in a dorm room, maybe at bedtime, are worth thinking through deeply. And maybe the theological training really matters at this point. Maybe matters of life and death are being conversed about in this dorm room. I remember one such a time in my Bible College days that such was the case. It was the day that one of my dormates asked; “If God knows everything, and is in control of everything, then why do we pray?” It’s a question that troubles the heart and mind of any conscious seeker of Jesus, and one that few, especially in the midst of theologians in training, have the courage to verbalize so ingenuously. But it was the question of the hour, indeed, the question of a lifetime, I have come to believe. It is to a large extent the question that this essay seeks to take on in its attempt to persuade you, the community of Steamtown Church to make prayer, not just a priority, but the priority of your lives.
Before we tackle my dormates specific question, I want to set the precedent for the priority of prayer. For it seems that every time prayer is talked about in the Bible, it is talked about with a sense of urgency, and with a sense of necessity, often without explanation. Take for instance, two of the Apostle Paul’s admonitions; one to the community of believers in Colossae, the other to the community of believers in Thessalonica. To the Colossians, Paul says: “Devote yourselves to prayer”. The New King James version says: “Continue earnestly in prayer”. Do you see how the words “continue earnestly’ go hand in hand with “devote”. I grew up “doing my devotions” which meant that I set aside a fifteen minute segment of my day at breakfast time to read my Bible, and pray. A lot of thinking has been done by this individual over the years on the topic of self-discipline, and how it relates to the grace of God. Today I understand that both the capacity to engage in self-discipline and the results of self-discipline are manifestations of God’s grace. Devotion implies and to a great extent means discipline. But there is also a more relational ring to the word “devotion” as well as a hint of positivity. “Devoted” does not sound as rigid or legalistic as maybe discipline does. We need to “continue earnestly” in prayer. It will not be easy at first, that’s why it must be earnest, but it must be done. If the Colossians needed to devote themselves to prayer, should we not do the same?
Paul tells the Thessalonians to “pray without ceasing”. This is not a command to never do anything but pray, it’s what is called in literary circles, hyperbole. In other words, its exaggeration in order to make a point. What Paul is telling these believers is that they need to pray like it was the thing to do. Make it a habitual part of your life. Make it such a part of your life that’s it’s as natural as breathing, except you don’t take it for granted. (After watching M.Night Shymalan’s new movie “The Happening” I don’t take breathing for granted.)
There is a proverb that subtly espouses the priority of prayer. It says: “The LORD detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases him”. At first glance this appears to be a proverb about how God accepts the upright person, and rejects the wicked person. But as is the case with the majority of the proverbs if we do not look deeper than the surface, we will get nothing more out of it than, “Be a good person, and God will make good things happen for you.” This is one of the basic messages of the proverbs, but each proverb requires a little bit of searching in order to see its true profundity. This proverb is not a mere affirmation of the upright over and against the wicked person. It actually does a good deal to tear down the cultural prejudices of the contemporary reader. To the contemporary reader of this proverb, a sacrifice, meaning an animal sacrifice, was the apex of religious devotion. Actually, to these readers, prayer accompanied sacrifice, but it was the sacrifice that impressed the gods, and it was the sacrifice by which they could hope to gain the gods’ favor. If this proverb were merely an attestation to the “upright” person, then “sacrifice” is a redundant word. The proverb might as well read: “The LORD detests the wicked, but is pleased by the upright”. But the word sacrifice is contrasted in the next part with “prayer”, which is now separated from “sacrifice”. This God, the God of Israel, is not like the gods of the pagans, who can be manipulated when mortals caress their brittle egos, but this God is pleased by a prayer without a sacrifice, bearing that the one praying is upright. This means that when it comes down to it, this God, our God, would rather us pray, than do anything. We don’t have to give anything to God but our time.
Going back to the question at hand; “I understand that prayer is a priority in the Scripture, but why? What does it accomplish?” In response to this question, I will refer to two passages of Scripture in the New Testament. One is from the mouth of the Lord, and the other from the pen of the Apostle Paul.
In the 26th chapter of Matthew’s gospel we find Jesus in agonizing conversation with the Father in the garden of Gethsemane hours before his crucifixion. Twice he leaves his disciples to be with his Father alone. After his first go round with the Father he returns to find them sleeping. This seems to perturb Jesus, and he says to them: “Watch and pray lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” These are universal words of wisdom from the Son of God. Although it is applicable to the current situation that the disciples find themselves in, there is universal truth in what Jesus is saying. It was important that they prayed because their faith, indeed their world, was about to be rocked. There is no hope of staying faithful to our faith without prayer. Because prayer beckons the help of the one who is powerful enough to help us ward of the attacks that the enemy will bring against us. We will not be able to beat him in our flesh, albeit our spirit wants to. Apparently the spirit is destined to lose to the flesh if the spirit is not drenched in prayer.
Hard times bring questions. Good questions, but if these questions are being entertained, and the presence of God is not, then these questions will lead to doubt. Doubt asks different kinds of questions than faith asks. And eventually doubt will lead to disbelief. And this has always been the enemy’s strategy. He puts obstacles in front of us to make us doubt, so that we will fall. And if we are not praying then the truth is that we will fall. Faith needs prayer like pizza needs an oven. You can have all the ingredients ready and prepared, but without an oven you can’t have a pizza.
Paul tells the Philippians in his profound letter he wrote them while in chains to be “…anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God which surpasses understanding will guard your heart and mind through Jesus Christ.” Are you anxious? Are you worried? Are you afraid of what might happen if…? There is a way to peace. But it doesn’t make sense. It’s sort of magical. Will you simply believe it? Here it is. Tell God what your worried about, and tell him what you’d like to see happen, and the peace of God will guard your heart through Jesus. Of course, you must be careful of your motives. God is not a God to be tested. But if you really believe God, and that he loves you, has your best interest at heart, and wants you to be at peace; then pray.
So the biblical answer as to why we pray is twofold. So that we may not fall into temptation and so that we may have peace. But the nagging question remains: Why, really, do we pray? Is it just so that we may increase our faith, and if so, how do we ask God for this? Do we simply say: Dear God, help me not to give in to temptation? Dear God, could you please…, and then we get peace? Do we get peace because God answers the prayer, or do we get peace even if he doesn’t? And what about unanswered prayers; aren’t their passages in the Bible where we’re promised that if we ask in faith, that we will receive? Ok, so it’s about seven questions. I think these are commonly asked questions about prayer. We should understand by now that prayer helps us with our faith. It may be yet unclear how. And the one thing that is truly mysterious about prayer is that there is no way of knowing how much of an effect it actually has on the course of our lives, let alone the course of the entire universe? Is God waiting for us to say something, before he’ll do something? If everything happens according to the will of God, aren’t there a lot of things God does without anyone asking? If so, if God is just going to do what he’s going to do, then why ask him to do anything at all? Maybe because the point of prayer is not to get God do something, but to get us to see what God does? Maybe prayer doesn’t so much change the mind of God as it does the heart of man. Maybe prayer doesn’t form the universe to our wills, but aligns our wills to the reality of the universe. Because prayer is about our joy, not God’s will. This perspective of prayer really requires faith. It requires us to believe that God really knows what’s best for the universe and us, and that we really don’t. It requires us to pray, watch and see how God answers it, and then be okay with the result knowing that all circumstances are a gift from God, and even ones that we consider bad or unwanted are what we need because God doesn’t give bad gifts, nor does he neglect to always do what is best for us, even if it is against our will. How does this produce joy in us? Because real joy does not come from our ability to control our circumstances, or getting what we want, but joy comes from contentness in the midst of bad circumstances beyond our control. When we see a prayer get answered, we gain insight into God’s idea of goodness. When we see a prayer unanswered, we gain insight into God’s idea of badness.
We pray so that we may know God, so that we may love God, so that we may know God, so that we may obey God, so that we may know God more, so that we may have more and more and more joy. The knowledge of God, the love of God, the obedience to God, and our infinite joy, are inseparable. Every time you pray, you have an opportunity to comprehend the heart of God, a little more. Even if your prayer is unanswered, a circumstance may show (if you’re paying attention) you why it was unanswered, and that should show you, if you have eyes to see, more of what kind of God God is.
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus says something pretty interesting to his disciples. He asks them a rhetorical question (I’m paraphrasing): How many of you if your child asked for a fish would give him a scorpion? Don’t you as earthly fathers know how to give good gifts to your children? How much more does your heavenly Father give good gifts to you? There is something here that is easy to miss, but potentially devastating if it is (missed). I owe this observation to Ken Rudolph, who may have got it from somewhere else. Of this I am not sure. At any rate, this observation is not original to me. Jesus is not suggesting that God is a good father who gives his children everything they ask for. What kind of father gives their child everything that they ask for? Sometimes children think they are asking their fathers for a “fish” and they are really asking them for a “scorpion”. What kind of father gives their child a “scorpion” even if they ask for it? What kind of father gives their child candy for dinner even if they ask for it? What kind of mother sends her kid to bed without brushing his teeth, even if that would make junior so happy. (It won’t on the next visit to the dentists).
We are stupid “prayers”. We are not able to discern the difference between a “scorpion” and a “fish”. Our gracious father knows what’s best for us. He knows that taking our loved one from us will bring us closer to him. He knows that losing a job will somehow bring us closer to him. You see, a tragedy may be a “fish”. Conversely, winning the lottery may be a “scorpion”. Getting that girl, dating that boy, getting that house, that job, that acceptance letter, that grade, that applause, that raise, may be a “scorpion”. And you learn that those things are scorpion’s when you pray for them, and don’t get them, because our heavenly father only gives good gifts. Eventually you begin to see what’s really important in life, because your scorpions keep getting denied you. You begin to see fish for the fish that they are. You begin to ask for those things. Maybe you’re not specifically asking for God to kill your loved one, or to take your job. You probably shouldn’t do that. But it starts to become more important to you that you know God, and that God knows you, that this is what you ask him for, and by asking him for this you are telling him that you’ll will be fine with the resulting circumstances because you know that whatever happens, happens to bring you closer to God, who is your joy. Yeah, it’s a process. It doesn’t happen overnight. This is just yet another reason that prayer must be a priority. We only have so much time to gain maximum joy in our life. We have only so much time to figure out the difference between a fish and a scorpion. How will we know God’s opinions of things if we do not pray? How we will know that we must turn the direction of our lives without unanswered prayers? The more we pray, the more that we understand God, and the more we know God, the more joy we have.
Is there anything that the Bible tells us to pray for? I can think of one place where people are told what to pray for and it’s found in the example of a prayer that Jesus gives his disciples after they ask him to teach them how to pray. I think we would do well to pay attention to the words of Jesus as well.
Jesus says that when you pray you should pray like this: “Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Jesus says that we should pray like this, not that we should pray exactly this. It’s like he’s saying: “You can pray to God about anything, but you can’t forget to mention these things.” It’s like he’s saying: Make sure that when you pray, you recognize that God is not on earth, but that he lives in an eternal, infinite realm beyond your understanding, yet not beyond your prayer. Make sure that when you pray you recognize that the name you invoke is but a symbol, that you cannot actually utter God’s name with your lips because it is too sacred, too holy. Don’t forget to ask God for his rule to come to earth, for the reality that he exists in in heaven to be the reality that we exist in on earth as well. Don’t forget to ask God for your daily provisions. You wouldn’t have any if it wasn’t for him. This is a sign of gratitude. Ask him to forgive you knowing that this requires you to do your part and forgive those who have wronged you. And ask him to lead you out of and/or through situations that might cause you to fall away from your faith.
Jesus brother James tells us to ask for wisdom because God gives it out like a Democrat gives out welfare. (This is not a political statement. It’s just my attempt at political humor). We’re not commanded to ask for wisdom. But the Proverbs tell us to “Get wisdom” at all costs. And if God’s giving it out like there’s no tomorrow then I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to ask him for some. But James says that we must ask in faith or we will not get it. “The double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. He should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.”
At this point I hope that an impression has been made. I hope that my readers’ see the grand importance of prayer. I hope that they have a better grasp as to why they pray even though God may be in control of all things. I hope that my readers have a better understanding of what to pray for. And I hope that as we all pray more and more together that we gain a better and better understanding of what to pray for, and consequently who God is.
There is one final thing I need to address. After all, what is prayer? Prayer is not asking God for things you want and hoping that he finds the grace to give it to you. It is not appeasement to a pagan God who requires it or otherwise it might not rain. Prayer is the spiritual if not verbal recognition that God, not the person praying is in control. And when this is done continually, with devotion, God’s idea of how the universe should be run, a.k.a. heaven becomes his children’s idea of how the universe should be run, and lo and behold, his children are motivated to make heaven come down to earth. What would happen if we never prayed? Could God hypothetically be defeated? Would nothing change? And if God would carry through his plan without us praying for it, why waste our time praying? Assuming that nothing else I have written matters. God can’t be defeated because his people will pray. But what if they don’t? Why wouldn’t they? We cannot entertain these kinds of questions. Their answers, if “answers” is the right word, are beyond our understanding. The wonderful mystery about prayer is that it is what God uses to bring about his will, while at the same time bringing the participants in prayer closer to the knowledge of God. His ways our not our ways, his thought are not our thoughts. Maybe this is why prayer is so important. Maybe it is only way to get inside the mind of God, and make his thoughts our thoughts, and our ways his ways. Prayer itself is also an act of humility. It may seem that when we start to pray that it is an act of faith in chance, as opposed to faith in a real infinite person. But by praying instead of worrying, or becoming anxious and trying to fix everything ourselves, we are showing God that we know that he’s in charge, and that he can do a better job of running the universe than anyone else. Prayer is an exercise in faith and humility that result in knowledge and ultimate joy. Also prayer is our opportunity to participate in God’s revolution; his kingdom. Why are we not praying? Why are we not gathered somewhere crying out to God for the “fish” that we need, crying out for his provision, for his forgiveness, for his help to forgive, in humble recognition of his wholly otherness, and greatness, in anticipation of heaven coming to earth? Why are we still sitting here?
