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spiritual questions
Question #4 - Does prayer really make a difference?
It MUST! The relationship that God has placed us in is one
of Parent-child. Children ask for good things from their
fathers and good fathers answer (Matt. 7:7-11). We read that
Moses prayed on behalf of Israel “and God changed His
mind” (Ex. 32:14). God has placed us in a partnership
with Him. Not that He is surrendered to our failures, but
that He has included us in the great plan He has for humanity.
And one of those aspects of operation is prayer rooted to
Him for the necessary power. Ramsey MacMullen, a professor
of classics at Yale (and not a Christian apologist) states
the facts plainly:
“The reason why pagans accepted Christianity was not primarily doctrine (our emphasis today) - but a very simple encounter with power. ‘Our God, the one true God, is more powerful than your gods, who are the demonic forces that hold you down’.”
What we have done, writes Francis MacNutt, is
“We have tended to emphasize doctrine rather than experience,
as if right knowledge coupled with willpower were enough to
produce Christians.” (MacNutt, 71)
I think that, in general, these men are correct. How often
have you and I read the book of Acts and said, “Man,
I wish I could have seen and experienced that”? How many
people have we seen in a hospital and thought, “I wish
I could do more than prepare to say some nice things at your
funeral”? How many times have we read the passage of
Scripture in John 14:12 which says, “He who believes
in Me will do the same works I have done; and even greater
works because I am going to the Father” and thought, “I
wish that were true.”
Why?! Don’t we believe Jesus? Or have we found an interpretational methodology that helps us sleep better at night because our Christianity is so impotent? Have we taken in the argument that says, “Well, in its original context that meant something different…don’t bother, it’s in the Greek.” No it’s not!! (The Greek word for “greater”- meizona, does not mean greater in number, but in greater in quality.) “Well, that is for the original 12 disciples, not us.” Wrong again!! Who is the subject? Is it not, “The person who believes in Me”?
So why have we accepted an emasculated Christianity?
· Maybe it was the early influence in our Christian
journey.
· Maybe people who emphasized power struck us as
weird, flaky or even heretical so we threw out the baby with
the bathwater.
· Maybe we took a step of faith and God didn’t
respond like we commanded Him, and so forgetting our place,
we became discouraged and quit.
So, let’s commit to two different
attitudes towards prayer:
1. No more “filler prayers” for me- No wonder my
prayer life stinks so bad! I haven’t prayed big for years.
No more fumbling for words, filling in the blanks with “Lord” because
I have no idea what to pray for that is within the scope of “affordable”.
2. No more roll-over-because-it-must-be-God’s-will-prayers
either!! P.T. Forsyth writes, “When the lives of people
were at stake, their [the prophets] word was not, ‘Thy
will be done’, but ‘Thy will be changed’…We
say too often ‘Thy will be done’ and too-ready
acceptance of a situation as his will often means feebleness
or sloth. It may be His will that we surmount His will. Does
not Christ set more value upon importunity (the state of urgently requesting or demanding) than on submission?
Jacob’s wrestling with God, the parable of the unjust
judge, the pleading of the Syro-Phoenician woman, Abraham haggling
with God for the sake of Sodom, Moses’ powerful intercession
for Israel…so the prayer that resists His will may be
part of His will and its fulfillment…It’s
a resistance that God loves.”
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