Thu 15 Dec 2005
Whenever Will drives off somewhere, I pray for his safe arrival to wherever he is going.
When someone I know is sick, I pray for their recovery.
When there is something that I want, like a meaningful job, I pray for it.
Recently I found there was a question nagging in my mind about prayers of petition. They don’t always work. How can that be? We are taught that if we pray, we will get what we need and want, and could have the power to move mountains. But we can’t move mountains, and our prayers aren’t always answered.
We can pray all we like for safe journeys, but that doesn’t always happen. There are car accidents every day. We can pray for the healing of someone, and sometimes people get healed, but many times they do not. We can pray for the dream job, where one feels they are truly doing God’s work, but may not get that job.
It’s not a matter of not having enough faith, either. I have seen very faithful people pray for things, and those prayers remained unanswered……at least not in the ways that were expected.
What, then, is the point of petition prayers?
It’s funny. I go through phases in my spiritual journey, between feeling like what God does makes sense, like I was given a secret glimpse of the inner workings of God, and feeling like what God does makes no sense and is an enigmatic absent being, who is still somehow present in His absence.
My earlier understanding of this dilemma is that we need to be praying for things God would want, opening our hearts and minds to Gods will. Because, to truly believe, we want what God wants, and thus would only pray for things God would will. So, when we do pray for things God would will, they happen and we rejoice. However, due to selfishness, self-absortion, greed, close-mindedness, etc. when we pray for things that stray from Gods desire, those prayers are not answered, and we then understand that maybe we should have desired something else. In that way, prayers, whether unanswered or answered, show us the will of God.
Another spin on it, is that God only wants what is best for us. Sometimes we pray for things that, initially seem good, but in the end would have resulted in something negative. I DO believe that an unanswered prayer can be protective or preventative.
Both of these understandings, however, would mean diddily to the wife whose husband was paralyzed in the car crash. She prayed for his safety, so why was he injured for life? This wouldn’t bring comfort to the family whose friend died of AIDS. They had been praying for a healing for monthes and years. This wouldn’t make sense to someone who wanted to be a doctor all their lives, but just can’t get through medical school, no matter how hard they tried.
Maybe prayers of petition aren’t about getting what we ask for. Maybe we are encouraged to pray for things so that we are mindful of what we truly want, for ourselves and for others. Maybe we are encouraged to pray for things so that we are constantly reminded that we are dependent on a greater being. Or, maybe when our prayers do make a difference, we won’t always see that right away….and maybe never.
December 18th, 2005 at 1:54 am
I forget where I read this quote or who said it, but I sort of agree with it: “I pray not because it changes things (and I would add, God); I pray because it changes me.” I tend to view pastors or evangelists who promote the “name it and claim it” doctrine as completely out of touch with the world. You’re right, many prayers are not answered, people get diseases, they die in accidents, etc. People who pray for a better job in order to take care of their family continue living in squalor. The only thing these Christians instill in their listeners is guilt: “Why didn’t God answer my prayer? I must be a bad Christian and I must not have enough faith!” Then others say that we can’t know the mind or will of God, so while we can pray, we’ll never really know how God took that prayer and why he didn’t answer it. People then try to find the good that can come out of a car crash or someone dying of cancer (i.e. “well, this is a witnessing opportunity now, etc.”) I sometimes wonder if these kind of answers are offered up in order to mask the anger and utter disappointment at a supposedly good God who didn’t answer their prayers.
Lastly, I tend to believe that prayer can be a way of taking the time to communicate with the divine and realize that there is more behind just the physical realities we see in everyday life. It’s a “time-out” or “an awareness of something more.” I personally don’t think that I believe that God intervenes in the details of life, or has a detailed plan as to who will get this disease or who will be spared from that car crash. And so prayer isn’t about changing events or even about changing God. It’s mostly about awareness of the divine, perhaps a basking in it/him/her.