This question of whether
prayers are worthless is, unfortunately, a major news item as a result of the
attack in San Bernardino, CA, yesterday. Before moving into a discussion of it,
however, the first thing to do is to offer a prayer in spite of those who doubt
its efficacy.
Father, we know that all power and glory belong to you. You could stop these tragedies from occurring if you so chose, and we struggle to understand why you do not. But throughout our lives and all history, we see the ways you have been faithful, and we ask for the strength to have faith in you. Please comfort those who have lost loved ones with the knowledge that you also watched your Son suffer and die, and that life can be found through death. Heal those who have been harmed, and must live with the scars of this terror. Forgive this nation for turning from you, the cause for our troubles so few are willing to admit. And Father, in this war in which we find ourselves, give us the will to fight as we must. But more importantly, change the hearts of our enemies so they might see their evil, repent of it, and come to know you in truth. We can only have peace through you, and that is what we desire. This is our prayer, by faith in you and in the name of our Savior, Christ Jesus. Amen.
Criticism of Prayer
If you follow the news through the most Progressive outlets
and social media, you have probably seen the #thoughtsandprayers discussion. Or
else, it is likely you saw it when it was criticized by conservatives. When
reports of the assault first went out, a number of politicians’ first response
was to offer condolences in the form of “thoughts and prayers” to the people of
San Bernardino.
To a number of Progressives and antitheists this was an
unforgivable sin, especially in the immediate aftermath when they had
themselves convinced—in the complete absence of evidence—this attack was the
work of white Christians. The assaults on prayer were loud and numerous, and
for one reason. The critics, who want nothing to do with God, believe prayer is
ineffectual. Therefore, they do not want anyone to pray.
The narrative changed a bit as more of the facts became
known. It was not prayer itself they were condemning, they said, but prayer
without action. That is fair enough, as I will show later, but to say that was
all they meant is a lie. With lines like “God isn’t fixing this” (NY Daily News) and “How many dead people
did those thoughts and prayers bring back to life?” (Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas), it is clear that prayer itself
is the target. They see it as completely worthless, not merely as ineffectual
without complimentary action.
Problems with the
Criticism
There are a few problems with this perspective, however.
Most obviously, it misses the point of why we pray. We will get into that
later. There are a few lesser problems with the criticism also worth mentioning
first. For one, the prayer detractors have also been vitriolic, casting hate
and blame rather than offering constructive alternatives. They have treated it
as an opportunity to be condescending, which is hardly helpful or persuasive.
As for alternatives, we saw those in Paris a few weeks ago.
The French and British deserve credit for beginning military maneuvers against
ISIS in Syria. Barack Obama deserves similar credit for operations that began
even before the Paris attack. But they feel shallow when accompanied with
platitudes about carrying out a planned conference on global warming as though
it were an act of courage and defiance, and with promises to accept even more
refugees from places that breed the type of hate which inspires these attacks.
And as numerous other commentators have noted, it is the height of hypocrisy to
criticize prayer while playing John Lennon’s “Imagine” and spreading photos of
yourself holding placards covered in hashtags.
Speaking of effectiveness, what is the point? If prayer
does nothing because there is no God, then why bother seeking justice or safety
at all? If the world is truly chaotic, there is no purpose to life and no way
to truly tell right from wrong. It would all depend on your perspective. What
is the difference between the civilized and the bloodthirsty? To a callous
universe, there is none. If you believe your life is meaningless, then you need
to stop whining over what I believe about mine.
The final problem with the attack on prayer is that it has
the wrong target. Christians, who pray for peace and comfort, are condemned for
it. What about Muslims? Many of them have also come out to pray for the
victims. Where is the blame for them? And what about the radical Muslims who
surely pray for the opportunity to inflict death and destruction? Where are the
calls for them to stop praying? No, that is reserved for those who dare to cry
out to Jesus. In a sense, it is not even about prayer at all. It is about
hatred for us, because that is what the world does. It hates the Gospel,
because the Gospel makes them accountable and tells them they cannot save
themselves. Salvation only comes through surrender, and they don’t want to hear
it.
Purposes of Prayer
That is enough said about the enemies of Christian prayer, though.
What about prayer itself? What is it for? If it is worth doing, why?
Put simply, prayer is about reaching out. It is about
trust. Certainly, prayer rarely leads to immediate, automatic results of the
type we desire. But that is not its purpose. God already knows what we require.
He knows it far better than we do, and though He does not always give us what
we want, He always gives us what we need. In prayer, we come to know that. As 1
John 5:14, 15 tell us, we pray because we know we are heard. If we know we
are heard, then we can know God is in control and go forward in confidence.
Prayer is not just about inspiring confidence, however. It
is also effectual. God moves in His own timing, but He moves on our behalf. In Exodus
3:9, 10, God calls Moses to lead the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt
because, as He said, “the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me.” The
Israelites had been slaves for generations by that point, and had cried out for
centuries. But the Lord had not been ignoring them. He was moved by their
plight, and acted on their behalf because they trusted Him to do so. He
answered their prayers, giving us a model for continuing to cry out to Him even
when we do not see the results.
Finally, prayer does not request a response from God alone.
We must move, as well. When we pray, it should be in repentance. We all sin
against God, choosing to be selfish and pursuing our own ends instead of His.
We will never reach out to God until we acknowledge this and seek His
forgiveness, and He will not help us until we do (2
Chronicles 7:14). The only way for our prayers to really be worthless is if
they come from hearts that are not turned toward our heavenly Father.
Limits of Prayer
Prayer does have value. God is there, and He does hear. We
can trust that He does, and believe that He is ordering all things for good in
the end. Therefore we need to offer Him our trust and turn away from the
worthless things of the world which draw us away from Him. With that said,
there are limits to prayer. It means little without action on our parts, just
the critics point out. And they would deserve credit for the observation, if it
had not been contained in Scripture for millennia.
Words are easy, and without accompanying action, they are
worthless. They betray what you really believe. If you do not do what you say,
you are faithless and untrustworthy. God Himself says in Isaiah
29:13, “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with
their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” What does it matter to talk the
talk if you do not walk the walk?
The same point occurs in James
2:15–17 and 1
John 3:15–19. Words are cheap. Condolences and well wishes are easy to
offer. They do not display love unless they are offered “in deed and in truth.”
It makes no sense for anyone to criticize Christians for praying, but it makes
even less sense for Christians to think they can pray and then not do anything
else.
Call to Prayer
Of course, that begs the question: what am I going to do in
the face of horrors like the one faced yesterday? We all need to ask that
question, and think through the answer carefully. It is pointless to focus on
the availability of firearms. Their possession is protected by the
Constitution, and the need for them is well established. Trying to restrict the
rights of the law-abiding citizens of this nation will not do anything to stop
evil men and women from doing harm.
Guns are not the problem. Hearts are. Our efforts need to
be aimed at changing souls, not gun laws. In part, that includes prayer, as we
ask God to forgive us and help us turn back to Him. But it also means doing the
turning, and helping others do it, too. We need to speak truth in the face of lies,
and show love even to our enemies. That does not mean being naïve, but offering
forgiveness and compassion that calls for real change.
Ultimately, atrocities like those in Paris and San Bernardino
are the result of despair. They happen when people see killing innocents as a
way to enter paradise. They feel they have nothing else to make their lives
worthwhile. What more despairing statement could be made? Christianity is about
something different. It is about obtaining relationship with God through His
act of boundless love, and about sharing that love with the world. It is the
only thing able to compete with ideologies that glorify violence or call life
meaningless. Pray that it will spread. Then go out and spread it.
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