I often view prayer as the ultimate cop-out. I recently asked a friend for advice on support-raising and her response was to pray about it. Though I thanked her outwardly, my inward response was quite different. It was all I could do not to roll my eyes. I wished she had given me a much more interesting answer; a glossy three-step process or a sexy sales strategy. Her answer even seemed intellectually lazy to me, as if she had forgotten about my question entirely and her call to “pray about it” was the best thing she could come up with.
To me, prayer is often boring. It’s something that should be done by monks within the confines of tired stain glass windows, not by “modern day” Christians in busy America. My lazy stereotypes and misconceptions, however, couldn’t be further from the truth. Prayer is not a dead or outdated remnant of centuries past; it’s an absolute necessity of the true Christian life. When I am not praying, I am not following Christ. This may sound harsh, but it’s the truth.
I believe wholeheartedly that invoking the assistance of the supernatural hand of God is not only the most effective way to accomplish any worthy goal in my Christian life, but the only effective way. James 5:16 says, “the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” C.S. Lewis describes prayer as “either a sheer illusion or a personal contact between embryonic incomplete persons and the utterly complete Person.”
I don’t know why I often have so little faith in prayer, when both the Bible and personal experience tell me it works! The World Race blogs themselves speak of such extraordinary cases of answered prayer that “pure lie” and “divine intervention” are the only two logical diagnosis. Sometimes I ask myself, “why would I need to ask God for something he already knows I want and already has the power to give me?” Couldn’t God just fund this trip without me asking him to? Similarly, why would I need to ask God for the perfect future wife? Doesn’t God already know of my desires and doesn’t God already possess the power to arrange the circumstances correctly?
The answer to the questions above is a resounding yes, though the questions themselves are expressions of a misunderstanding of the purpose of God. When I incorrectly understand God as existing to serve my purposes, as some sort of all-powerful butler, then there is absolutely no need for prayer. Prayer is red tape; a caveat that God holds in the way of my getting what I want. God is almost that annoying parent that withholds a piece of candy from his child until he or she says “please.”
When I correctly understand God as existing to serve his own purpose, namely to make himself look good (glorification), prayer becomes essential. People can much more easily see the cause-effect relationship of prayer-answered prayer and recognize it as the power of God than they could if God had arranged the result to be as such without prayer. Without prayer, a funded trip could be confused with Ben Friedman’s ingenuity or the product of a strong economy.
Martin Luther says, “prayer is not the overcoming of God’s reluctance, but the laying hold of His willingness.” I have finally come to the realization that I often trust God for the big things in my life but not for the little things. If my God can move a mountain in one command or procure a way for my salvation, then raising $15,500 is child’s play.
I’ve noticed that much of the Bible is arranged in an “if/then” format. If you obey me and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession (Exodus 19:5). If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:14). If anyone is in Christ, then he is a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).
All of these “if/then” statements work for the glory, or famousness, of God. If God simply made us all new creations from the outset, we wouldn’t even know what a new creation was. If God always healed people’s land, we would think the land just came that way. That being said, the combination of our asking and God’s providing works for the overall purpose of His glory. God will satisfy the “then” part of the statement (blessing) if we satisfy the “ifs” (prayer).
Many of us (myself included) express a lack of faith in God at times, but we never give God a chance to prove Himself. Let’s pray the bold prayers and see if God won’t pour out so much blessing we won’t know what to do with it.
