ON PRAYER
what is the point of prayer? why do we pray? is there really a point to praying?
there are two arguments which seemingly stand in diammetric opposition to each other. the first states that our prayers can move god to act and change His mind. this is clearly so in the genesis account of abraham bargaining with god on the destruction of sodom and gomorrah. in the new testament, john 15:7 says, "if you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given you." and again in psalms 37:4 "delight yourselves in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart" seemingly, we can influence the sovereign will of god. and secondly, a pessimistic view which states that god's predetermination of all these things mean that we our predefined destinies allow us no room to choose and maneouvre. however, i would prefer not to confuse this argument with arguments of predestination versus free will, because they ARE very closely interlinked. but fundamentally, the problem is this, "is there any point in praying if god has already decided?"
the bible says that prayer is most importantly, commanded by god and sanctioned as a necessity for the christian in daily living. jesus Himself took crucial time off to pray before major events in His life, communing with His heavenly father before facing the challenges of humanity and taught His disciples to pray the Lord's Prayer. for that reason alone, it is necessary. it is also taught that prayer is only effective insofar as one prays within the will of God, which is revealed in His word. for instance, one central tenet holds that God desires for our growth in Him and to forge a stronger relationship with Him, for that is the duty of man. to pray a similar prayer would definitely fall in the will of GOd.
often, it is not the answered prayer that man seeks, but simply a sense of peace in the knowledge that all things work out well in the final. most of us, in difficult situations, are tormented intially by the pain of circumstances, but even more so, the thought of "what do i do now??" the lack of foresight in these problems leads us to turn to God in desperation as we plead with Him to solve our problems for us. Jeremiah 29:11 states clearly that god has His plans for us, which are for our benefit, if anything, albeit the present may be painful and too much to bear. the circumstances are as they are meant to be, although in the human mind, the mental furniture can be rearranged to create a different perspective and viewing of the situation. we need to remove the pain from our perspectives, which limit us to see things from a hurting myopic sufferer's point of view to that of God's achronological, alinear master plan, which has nothing but good things planned out for us who call ourselves His children and beneficiaries.
philipians 4:6-7, the most commonly referred to verse on prayer, reads as follows, "do not be anxious about anything but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to god. and the peace of god, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus". the bible promises here, god's portion of surpassing peace, which the mind fails to comprehend and grasp. we dont understand WHY we feel peaceful when we pray, but God simply sends to us what we need, the assurance to rest. contrary to belief, we don't really want the situations of difficulty and problems to be resolved instantaneously with a snap of god's fingers because the implications and consequences remain. we really want god's peace in our lives.
in the bible, after elijah performed his miracle of calling down fire from heaven, one expects him to be on a spiritual high. and yet, he was led by the SPirit of GOd into the wilderness where he sat under a broomtree and hoped to die. in his moment of need and desperation, god ministered to him and told hiim simply to eat and rest. in our moments of desperation, god calls to us through our own prayers and brings us that peace that He has promised. this is a promise that we CAN CLAIM with power and confidence because many of us do indeed know phil4:6-7 by heart and now, understand what it means.
pray away.
there are two arguments which seemingly stand in diammetric opposition to each other. the first states that our prayers can move god to act and change His mind. this is clearly so in the genesis account of abraham bargaining with god on the destruction of sodom and gomorrah. in the new testament, john 15:7 says, "if you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given you." and again in psalms 37:4 "delight yourselves in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart" seemingly, we can influence the sovereign will of god. and secondly, a pessimistic view which states that god's predetermination of all these things mean that we our predefined destinies allow us no room to choose and maneouvre. however, i would prefer not to confuse this argument with arguments of predestination versus free will, because they ARE very closely interlinked. but fundamentally, the problem is this, "is there any point in praying if god has already decided?"
the bible says that prayer is most importantly, commanded by god and sanctioned as a necessity for the christian in daily living. jesus Himself took crucial time off to pray before major events in His life, communing with His heavenly father before facing the challenges of humanity and taught His disciples to pray the Lord's Prayer. for that reason alone, it is necessary. it is also taught that prayer is only effective insofar as one prays within the will of God, which is revealed in His word. for instance, one central tenet holds that God desires for our growth in Him and to forge a stronger relationship with Him, for that is the duty of man. to pray a similar prayer would definitely fall in the will of GOd.
often, it is not the answered prayer that man seeks, but simply a sense of peace in the knowledge that all things work out well in the final. most of us, in difficult situations, are tormented intially by the pain of circumstances, but even more so, the thought of "what do i do now??" the lack of foresight in these problems leads us to turn to God in desperation as we plead with Him to solve our problems for us. Jeremiah 29:11 states clearly that god has His plans for us, which are for our benefit, if anything, albeit the present may be painful and too much to bear. the circumstances are as they are meant to be, although in the human mind, the mental furniture can be rearranged to create a different perspective and viewing of the situation. we need to remove the pain from our perspectives, which limit us to see things from a hurting myopic sufferer's point of view to that of God's achronological, alinear master plan, which has nothing but good things planned out for us who call ourselves His children and beneficiaries.
philipians 4:6-7, the most commonly referred to verse on prayer, reads as follows, "do not be anxious about anything but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to god. and the peace of god, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus". the bible promises here, god's portion of surpassing peace, which the mind fails to comprehend and grasp. we dont understand WHY we feel peaceful when we pray, but God simply sends to us what we need, the assurance to rest. contrary to belief, we don't really want the situations of difficulty and problems to be resolved instantaneously with a snap of god's fingers because the implications and consequences remain. we really want god's peace in our lives.
in the bible, after elijah performed his miracle of calling down fire from heaven, one expects him to be on a spiritual high. and yet, he was led by the SPirit of GOd into the wilderness where he sat under a broomtree and hoped to die. in his moment of need and desperation, god ministered to him and told hiim simply to eat and rest. in our moments of desperation, god calls to us through our own prayers and brings us that peace that He has promised. this is a promise that we CAN CLAIM with power and confidence because many of us do indeed know phil4:6-7 by heart and now, understand what it means.
pray away.
posted by leb at 12:12 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home