Be joyful always; pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV)
Our life, we too often conclude, is fixed to a particular time period in this world. We perceive time in our life as from conception until death. We imagine that it is also a period of historicity for God's own existence. This is far from the truth for God has neither history nor future; all for Him is "now."
If then, God know everything, as we believe, and anything I am about to do or say is known; why pray? There is no time line for God as it is with us; therefore, He is above our time line. It must be so: for it is He, who created space and time. The creator is always above his creation and for God to create time He must stand outside of time. Therefore, all is in the "now" for Him. You might ask at this point, where does "free will" come in being that God already knows all that is to occur? First, God does not see our past and He does not see our future, all He sees is everything, past, present, and future in the "now." Our tomorrow is yet to come but for God when our tomorrow comes it is already in the "now." Our actions are no less an act of our "free will" just because God already knows; God is in tomorrow and simply watches you as in the "now." In some sense, God does not know your future until it occurs, but when it does occur it is "now" for Him.
One of our long-standing member and employee of our church as well as a sister in the LORD was recently diagnosed with stage 4 liver cancer. She started chemotherapy yesterday; we prayed and fasted all day as we petitioned our God for intervention and for His will to be done. To give strength to all concerned to accept His will. As a young mother and wife, the situation is grave and life-threatening. Well then, if God already knows the result, the decision, then why pray? Here is the reason: God works through prayer; "My servant Job will pray for you and I will accept his prayer" (Job 42:8b NIV, italics mine). If we choose to pray then our prayer, as an example, at 6:00 am this morning, may take effect in our future time let say at 10:00 am; if we choose not to pray then what would have taken affect because of our prayer won't. God does not go back in time to fix our lack of praying. Yet, He has heard your prayer and He is in control. He sees it all in the "now."
One of the aspects of prayer is that it is a request and in a request, there is no essence of compulsion for the granting of the request. Does God answer all prayers? The answer is a resounding, yes! It may be yes; or it may be no; or it may be wait. Our prayers should never be such as to pray and then have an attitude of; let us see what happens. It is our motive for praying that is all-important. We do not want our prayers to be nominal and without real purpose. Pray with a heartfelt purpose in faith, believing that God's answer is always the right answer. It is in obedience that we pray and submit to our Father's will.
Prayer is not a magic pill that functions automatically. Prayer is a personal communication with God and while it includes such things as petition, confession and repentance, it is the threshold to the entrance of the sanctuary of God. Here in His presence we find a place for our adoration and enjoyment of God that is all consuming. It is the place where we find Him as to what He does and more important of what He is. He is love and has demonstrated that love to us: "But god demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8 NIV, italics mine). Love is the very essence of God. Any act in answering our prayers is due to that love and His omniscience. As our faith matures, we will come to understand and have full assurance that His purposes, shall be accomplished, and we come to trust Him no matter the consequences.
Here is where our faith grows as the God in us who hears and answers prayers consumes the all of us.
Today's Prayer:
God so fill our lives with your presence that all circumstances in life we trust in your love, that all decision and results will be according to your purpose and will for us. Increase our faith: forgive our doubts, for it is in you we trust. Amen
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Knowing is not causing. I suppose that God's now is our past, present and future might have some psychological point, but in the end it doesn't really satisfactorily define what we want to feel. To believe that God's knowing, even though we don't, satisfies us and settles our dilemma might make some kind of sense theologically, but we never really feel comfortable with that. We cannot get away from what Paul said, we see a riddle in a mirror. We do, but we seldom do with complete satisfaction. And that's the terror of prayer, we pray because we are told to, we must live with never fully understanding what it is all about.
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely correct, knowing is not causing. Knowing is simply knowing and only God can cause. Our prayers of petition are simply that a request, a petition. If our prayers are only in the form of petitions then we are relegating God to the place of a vending maching. We put the prayer and expect the answer to be according to our petition. We pray for more than that we are commanded for even those who claim to be atheist will reach out in prayer if difficult times. We pray because we must, it is in faith believing that there is a God who will hear and respond to our prayer. Prayer relegated to just petitions misses the whole point of prayer. It is in worship, a time to just communicate and speak to our God. It is also a time to just listen. This should be the main thrust of our prayers. You are right there is terror in prayer, it is in that terror where our faith lives. Thank you for your reflection it sure does help. I look forward to more from you.
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