Prayer and the Guinea Pig
I believe in prayer. Well, not really. Or, better to say it this way: not specifically. I don't believe prayer by itself has any power whatsoever. So when I hear people say, "Prayer works," I sort of cringe inside. I believe in practicing prayer because I believe the God to whom I pray is powerful and mighty and can and does respond to the cries of his children, even at times changing the course of history. Prayer has no power in itself. The "power" of prayer is all in whom the prayer is directed toward.
When we make a request and then things seem to happen the way we prayed, we tend to respond, "Prayer works" or "God answers prayer." But what about when we don't get what we asked for? What about when we ask for healing and the person dies? Or what about the faithful person of prayer who contracts multiple diseases? What about the so-called "deathbed prayer"? Or the "bargaining prayer" (God, if you answer this prayer...I'll go to church two whole weeks in a row!)? If we don't get what we ask for—is God somehow less powerful? Is God refusing to answer our prayers? Does prayer "not work" at that moment?
I think we have to be careful about how we talk about prayer, lest we end up accidentally putting our faith in prayer and not in God. Too many people believe that you have to pray a certain way, or with a certain tone, or with certain words in order for the prayer to "count." Or, they believe, you have to pray for something for a certain number of days, or get a huge amount of people to pray in order to somehow "wear God down" and thereby get your prayers answered the way you want, the way I want.
But that's not the case. God, the Bible says, is a God who loves to give good gifts to his children. And God is uncategorically NOT the judge who is worn down by the widow in Jesus parable from Luke 18. (Jesus specifically says that the point of his story is this: if an unjust judge can grant justice, then surely we can trust God to do so. His whole parable is about the question of our faith.) God is not waiting to be worn down by our prayers because prayer, ultimately, is not about getting things. Prayer is about connecting, having a relationship, spending time with our loving Heavenly Father.
And God answers and responds to each and every prayer. Sometimes we simply can't see that what happens and how the way God answers is for the best. We don't have the long view when we're asking. To adapt a story I read many years ago... We have a guinea pig named Sparkle. Sparkle sometimes chews on her cage, usually to tell us she wants more food, but sometimes to indicate she'd perhaps like to explore the world around her a bit more. There must be more to the world than this cage she's in! And I could grant her request. I could let her run free. But do you know what Sparkle doesn't see? There's a mutt named Hershey who is standing not that far away, and were Sparkle to get out, Hershey would be on her in a minute, using her for a chew toy. So, in the best interest of Sparkle, I don't let her out in the time and place she'd like to be let out. Am I cruel, unkind? Sparkle might think so. But I have a bigger view, and whether she believes it or not, I know what's best for her.
Prayer doesn't "work." But prayer connects us with the God who does work, and works all the time. He is working in all things, giving good gifts to his children. I don't put my faith in prayer. I put my faith in a God who answers prayer and listens to the calls of his children.
When we make a request and then things seem to happen the way we prayed, we tend to respond, "Prayer works" or "God answers prayer." But what about when we don't get what we asked for? What about when we ask for healing and the person dies? Or what about the faithful person of prayer who contracts multiple diseases? What about the so-called "deathbed prayer"? Or the "bargaining prayer" (God, if you answer this prayer...I'll go to church two whole weeks in a row!)? If we don't get what we ask for—is God somehow less powerful? Is God refusing to answer our prayers? Does prayer "not work" at that moment?
I think we have to be careful about how we talk about prayer, lest we end up accidentally putting our faith in prayer and not in God. Too many people believe that you have to pray a certain way, or with a certain tone, or with certain words in order for the prayer to "count." Or, they believe, you have to pray for something for a certain number of days, or get a huge amount of people to pray in order to somehow "wear God down" and thereby get your prayers answered the way you want, the way I want.
But that's not the case. God, the Bible says, is a God who loves to give good gifts to his children. And God is uncategorically NOT the judge who is worn down by the widow in Jesus parable from Luke 18. (Jesus specifically says that the point of his story is this: if an unjust judge can grant justice, then surely we can trust God to do so. His whole parable is about the question of our faith.) God is not waiting to be worn down by our prayers because prayer, ultimately, is not about getting things. Prayer is about connecting, having a relationship, spending time with our loving Heavenly Father.
And God answers and responds to each and every prayer. Sometimes we simply can't see that what happens and how the way God answers is for the best. We don't have the long view when we're asking. To adapt a story I read many years ago... We have a guinea pig named Sparkle. Sparkle sometimes chews on her cage, usually to tell us she wants more food, but sometimes to indicate she'd perhaps like to explore the world around her a bit more. There must be more to the world than this cage she's in! And I could grant her request. I could let her run free. But do you know what Sparkle doesn't see? There's a mutt named Hershey who is standing not that far away, and were Sparkle to get out, Hershey would be on her in a minute, using her for a chew toy. So, in the best interest of Sparkle, I don't let her out in the time and place she'd like to be let out. Am I cruel, unkind? Sparkle might think so. But I have a bigger view, and whether she believes it or not, I know what's best for her.
Prayer doesn't "work." But prayer connects us with the God who does work, and works all the time. He is working in all things, giving good gifts to his children. I don't put my faith in prayer. I put my faith in a God who answers prayer and listens to the calls of his children.
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