Pray Harder, that will Get God's Attention.

I heard several times at the General Assembly meeting of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church the phrase, “we need to pray” and some, who reported their successes, explained those blessing as a direct result of the number of prayers they prayed and the intensity of those petitions. “We prayed with all our might.” “Nothing happened until we began to pray.” It seemed that their reasoning is, the more people praying for single things to happen, the more likely it is that this will occur. There were also testimonies where God acted in a way that was contrary to their specific petitions. It turned out that their prayers were answered negatively but God made for a better result.

I remember that Paul prayed that God would send him to Rome and God willed his arrest by the king who sentenced him to death. Paul, a Roman citizen, appeals to the King to be tried in Rome. God granted Paul his petition but in a rather unexpected manner. Ecclesiastical historians claim Paul was eventually executed by the Romans.

I believe two very different things about prayer. One is that, it is usually to be done in secret and two it is sometimes to be done by “the people.” There are even some passages that indicate God will be moved by the prayers of his people. This is theologically problematic and its biblical examples are rare. Among the basic tenets of evangelical piety it seems to be the main way God is directed to act and instructed how it is we want Him to act.

Calvin addresses prayer frequently and is careful to say that there is no science of prayer. Prayer is relational. It is how a subject addresses a benevolent sovereign. Our petitions are more like questions than demands. It is like saying to God, "this is what I have in mind, and how does that sound to you.”

I appreciate that such prayers are necessary. It is far better to seek the plans of God than to plug into an endeavor having never even given much thought if it would or wouldn’t please our Father. Since we live a life in community, naturally, the more members of that community who seek God’s good pleasure the better. But, let’s not think for a moment reason that our prayer stays the hand of God or directs God's providence.

Some plans are meant to fail. They may mean we failed to seek God approval or it may mean that this failure is part of a larger Divine plan. When our plans succeed it is not a sure sign that our activities were than those whose plans failed to achieve our anticipated result in the same kind of endeavor. If one pastor reports his project gained much to glorify God and that the reason for his outcome was the quantity and quality of prayer, what does that say to another whose labors did not impress anyone? Is success or failure the result of the quality and quantity of prayer?

I don't need prayers from others as much as I need your criticism, I need you to hold me accountable not to who you think I should be but what I claim to be. I need your reminders to me that God is still sovereign, that God loves me regardless of my performance in His service. I need to believe that God loves failures as much as He loves bright shinning winners. In the end, only the Father knows what is good and what is not.

I have always had an interest in the question between Divine Providence and human petitions to God. We are free to pray to God as we will and for whatever outcome we desire. We should encourage many others to support our petition to God. God is under no obligate to grant us that petition. Even when God does grant our petition, he will still bring that event into accord with His perfect Providence. It is also true that God delights in our prayers.