Why Pray?

Alison writes:

I always think this is a tough question. We live in the age of advertising, where competing products vie for popularity in ever more imaginative ways. Needs are created to be met and promises made, which we know will probably not be kept but which we pursue nevertheless. How can I hope to make a case for prayer without sounding like the latest advert for anti- wrinkle cream?

Remembering the advice to approach a problem laterally really helped. Why not give people 10 good reasons NOT to pray, share a few thoughts on each one and then leave them to make up their own minds? So, here goes. I’m going to give some Bible references, which you may like to look up as you go along.

1. It’s not for me:

I think that the top good reason for not praying is probably that I just can't do it! All right, there are people I would call "religious" who can. People who spend their lives in prayer like nuns and monks. It comes naturally to them doesn't it and I've every respect for them. But let's face it, it's just not me. Moreover, prayer means that I have to use a language that doesn't come naturally to me. Watch my Ps and Qs for example.

What is your picture of a pray-er? Perhaps a little child kneeling by their bed. Someone in a church. Another in a religious community. Probably someone who is quiet and insular. Either that or a person in a desperate situation who has no other hope? There is sometimes an assumption that there are some people who are "spiritual" and others who are not, but the Bible does not make such a distinction. It doesn't offer us any such stereotype of a person who prays.

King David was a passionate pray-er. Just pick one of the psalms written by him and you will see that not only did his prayers acknowledge who God is, but they also tell us about the absolute humanity of David. He wasn't afraid to be himself and to be honest with God about how he was feeling. Some of his language even rests uneasily with us. Moreover, some of the most remarkable answers to prayer have been in response to "God, if you are there help me". Someone once said, " Prayer is not a religious exercise - it is a human necessity".

Even one of the disciples, who were committed Jews, well used to the disciplines of regular prayer, asked Jesus "Teach us to pray" (Luke 11:1). They would have watched Jesus pray on many occasions and we can only presume that what they saw and heard was new to them. Perhaps there is more to prayer than we may think.

There is evidence that God does not enjoy "religious" prayers - those that we say because we think He will be impressed. Indeed, Jesus illustrated this in the story of the Pharisee praying a thank you that he is not like other sinful men (Luke 18:13)

In the Lord's Prayer we are invited to pray to Abba - Father, Dad, Daddy -- and perhaps this is the central issue. While we focus on whether we are the type of person who prays we overlook the fact that if God exists and is as the Bible tells us, like a father to us, then we need to keep in touch. Prayer isn't for God's benefit but ours. If you think about it one of the biggest modern influences has been the growth in means of communication and, one of the most significant causes of a breakdown in relationships is the lack of it. You only need to go around the supermarket to see people on their mobile phones asking for advice on what brand to get, to see that something is a bit out of balance. "It's good to talk" is good advice that relates to all of us in our relationship with God too.

2. Who's listening anyway? What is the point of talking to thin air?

This is a prize objection. It's a handy way of denying that God exists and making it His fault that we don't pray! But many people in this country believe in God - or what they would describe as an intelligent power behind the universe. The chance is that you are one of them. So perhaps the real issue is not that God doesn't exist, but that He is distant or capricious - He may or may not listen to us - we can never be sure. Or can we? The Bible gives us a clear picture of a God who is anything but distant and whose very nature is consistency, purposefulness and love. Sometimes we credit the BBC with more reliability that they will show Eastenders every week, than that the Creator of the universe cares enough to listen to us. Psalm 94:9 and Isaiah 65:24.

3. Only desperate people pray, as a last resort:

It's a strange fact that in situations when people’s lives are in danger, prayer becomes the most natural thing in the world! There are many stories of people who do turn to God for help at these times. Which suggests less about what we may think about God and more about us really. That there is something in us that is able to suspend unbelief when it is on our terms. But why wait until you are desperate? Which parent among you would like your child to only come to you when they are in trouble? Prayer is not an optional extra for when our own resources fail us, it is a lifeline to enjoy God's resources every day of our lives.

4. I haven't got time, you have to be really dedicated to pray:

We always find time to do the things we consider important. There is a story of a well-known Christian who said that he always prays for an hour before his day and that if he knew that the day was going to be especially busy he would pray for two. It’s the law of reverse priorities, which I have just made up!

Perhaps it all comes down to whether we see prayer as a handy tool, to help us live the lives we want, or whether it is the outcome of a relationship with God who desperately loves us. Any relationship needs time to develop - and effort. When we free ourselves from the idea that we need to pray in a particular place, time and way then every moment of our lives becomes an opportunity for prayer.

5. Why do I need to pray? I've got everything I need and life is really good at the moment. Even if problems arise I know there are people I can go to for help:

Underpinning this objection to prayer are the assumptions that first, life can't get any better and second, that prayer inevitably means there is a problem and that it's generally a cry for help.

The dilemma of the happy atheist is a real one to Christians because in some ways your problems don't end when you become a Christian, they begin! Life before may have been a battle with problems, or an avoidance of them or a reprieve from them, but as you begin to grapple with the challenge of living out faith in your everyday life, you discover that the life that Jesus gives us is not called "in all its fullness" for nothing. It's like someone who thinks he has everything and when offered more says "no thank you, this will do just fine".

There is also the issue of where the good things of life come from. Being appreciative can seem like a chore - like when you are little and the pudding is denied until you utter those two expected words. Perhaps we forget how good it feels to be thankful. This is no accident as God invented praise and thanksgiving for His delight and our enjoyment. It’s impossible to get near Him without it. Not that God commands it as a rule to obey but His presence creates it naturally. It’s like going to a firework display and standing there po faced.

It’s just not possible, you have to ooh and ah. Or people talk about scenes of nature, of a sunset or a loved pet moving them to thankfulness, even if they think God doesn’t feature in it. Even as agnostics or atheists, we can appreciate the joy of thankfulness. And the people who will always be there for us? Perhaps that is a question to just ponder honestly. Psalm 103

6. What's in it for me? If I compare prayer to a financial investment I can only see it as a risk, where I get to do all the work and there are no guarantees that I will be better off at the end of it.:

There was a time when I called myself a Christian, God’s child, but lived like an orphan. This lasted for many years. Then I felt God saying to me, “Alison if you did the lottery and won, what would you do with the money?" And I gave it some thought and decided that it would make me much more confident. I would look for a more fulfilling job and be far more generous than what came naturally to me. I relaxed as I dwelt on it. The possibilities seemed endless. Then slowly it dawned on me. God had already given me an open “cheque”, which I had never drawn. The Bible is full of his promises and the assurance of his presence with us always. Luke 11:5-12 and Philippians 4:19.

7. Isn't it wrong to ask for things? Surely prayer is for spiritual matters only. There are some things that God may have an interest in but other things that he would want us to deal with ourselves:

There is one word in John 14:13 that I think answers this. The word which Jesus uses is "whatever". My dictionary explains it in this way - "no matter what". Of course, it's also a qualified answer because it's followed by the words "in my name" - in other words as we pray in accordance with God's law of love. If we look at what the Bible has to say about the goodness and generosity of God, fearing that he won't meet our needs is just not on the menu. Indeed Luke 6:38 shows us Jesus using very vivid imagery to describe how, as we give, it will be given to us. The picture makes me think of a champagne bottle shaken and then opened in the manner of a Grand Prix winner. God can never be outdone in his generosity.

Imagine you have a five-year-old child who would like a particular toy, is it wrong for them to ask? Or would you say it’s natural? I would say it's natural and it’s not something we grow out of. We just cover our needs with self-sufficiency. When we are adult we have the benefit of money to help us achieve some of our wants. It gives us the illusion that we can provide for ourselves and indeed should. But God doesn’t invite us to be self-sufficient. He calls us to depend on him in the same way as a five-year-old child would their parent. God promises that when we delight ourselves in him, he will give us the desire of our hearts. (Psalm 37:4) and Jesus calls on us to pray "give us this day our daily bread." (Matthew 6:11)

8. If it worked the world wouldn't be in the mess it is:

Many people would argue that prayer hasn't "proved" itself. But is prayer something we can hope to measure, or is it something which we need to trust is working behind the scenes, the results of which sometimes blaze across the sky, like a shooting star, to remind us that reality is far from ordinary? Go into your local Christian bookshop and you will discover that miracles still happen. In answer to a cynic, someone once said that when they prayed coincidences kept happening and that when they stopped praying so did the coincidences!

The mother of St Augustine prayed for him for many years before he came to faith and there are countless examples of faithful, persistent prayer, which bears fruit at a later date - perhaps even after the pray-er has died.

There are also times when prayers give us a glimpse of God at work in the world. Such as this one found in Ravensbruk concentration camp. "O Lord, remember not only the men and women of good will, but also those of ill will. But do not remember all the suffering they have inflicted on us; remember the fruits we have bought, thanks to this suffering - our comradeship, our loyalty, our courage, our generosity, the greatness of heart which has grown out of all this, and when they come to judgment let all the fruits which we have borne be their forgiveness"

Often the mess of life does not change but instead God breaks into it when we invite Him. This is one of the powerful pictures that Jesus provides - the God who is willing to suffer the mess with us and transform it from within. Jesus himself said that in the world we would have trouble. That trouble isn't a reason not to pray but the reason why every one of us needs to. Perhaps there is also a place for admitting that we are part of the problem. We need to pray not only to change the world but to be changed ourselves. Prayer makes us open to the work of the Holy Spirit and to the realm where, with God, all things are possible.

9.What about the prayers that aren't answered?

I think it's important to be sensitive here because it's absolutely right, some of our prayers are not answered in the way that we would hope. Even Christians struggle with this. There are the minor issues like the job we didn't get when we had set our heart on it, and the major ones such as when a loved one isn't healed. The mystery of why some prayers are answered and others seem not to be makes us realise that God is not a slot machine - but how do we continue to trust that he is a God of love, when his answers can bring such pain?

The issue of God's sovereignty can become a stumbling block. One thought that comes to my mind at this point is how can we be sure that what we see is God's answer to us? When the worst happens can we legitimately assume that this is the end that God had in mind all the time? Or could what we see just be the tip of the iceberg so to speak? I have to look at God's word for some help here and I think the Psalms are a good place to start, because no-one was more honest than David about the unfairness of life and the apparent silence of God at times (Psalm 13).

The letters of Paul are interesting, too, because here was a man who, humanly speaking, gave up success in the world as a zealous Pharisee and chose instead an infinitely more precarious life as an apostle of Christ. He endured imprisonment and much physical hardship and his life ended in execution. Now on paper that’s it. But Paul wrote these words “I consider that what we suffer at this present time cannot be compared at all with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:18 and it’s worth reading to the end of the chapter too).

It can be difficult though, especially when we are in the middle of an unbearable situation, to look forward with any hope. At these times what can we be sure of? Well, there is no record of Jesus during his life on earth, ever refusing to heal or to help anyone who came to him. And the parable of the prodigal son shows that God is ready to gather up his robe and run to help us, long before we make a move towards him. So, understanding that Jesus revealed to us the mind and heart of the Creator, we can believe that God’s will is always good.

God’s word assures us that He will never leave us or forsake us (Matthew 28:20) and that in Jesus God showed us for all time that far from separating himself from the suffering world, he chose to identify himself with it on the cross (Isaiah 53:3-4).

There are many references in the Bible too, to God as the Rock, which underlines I think that however tumultuous life’s events are, he is utterly dependable.

There is a tension to be held between the glory of God’s purposes and their mystery, but that love runs throughout the bible from beginning to end leads me to trust, that we should not fear what we do not know - as if knowing would make things worse somehow. And there is a very real sense in which the love of God is not silent at all because it is revealed in every expression of compassion and loving concern shown by one person to another (John 15:12).

Something that has just come to me is this – have you ever considered all the prayers that are not answered because they are never said? In Philippians 4:6 Paul writes "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God".

We are not promised that we will get everything we think we need when we pray, but we are promised "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus". That might be the most precious answer to prayer we will ever have.

10. Isn't prayer a handy alternative to actually doing something useful? It's the soft option, while capable people actually get things done. Who wants to be Father Ted when they can be Batman or Robin? The pray-ers of the world are only observers. The real achievers are those who enter the arena where it's all happening. There is a saying" Too heavenly minded to be of any earthly use"

Ouch! At this point my heart sinks. This is just the sort of argument that I could do without. It opens up for me all sorts of uncomfortable defensive questions like “What’s wrong with Father Ted anyway?”.

Jesus didn't see that there was a choice between either living his life or praying. He said that he could only do and say what he saw and heard his Father do. So he had to spend a lot of time listening and seeing. His life was characterised by times of prayer and of involvement in the world. Indeed the two ran together. What he DID, actually sprang out of what he prayed.

Jesus calls us to pray too. He didn't say "if" you pray, but "when" you pray (Matthew 6:5-7). Is there any evidence of prayer being a foundation for action in the world? Or is it all intangible, unknowable? Well, how about The United Nations, the hospice movement, the abolishment of slavery, Christian Aid, World Vision, the influence of Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela in banishing apartheid, the move to cancel world debt, Tear Fund, the education system in England and the early hospitals? These are only a few that I can think of and I’m sure there are many more.

There is another issue here and that is that as we begin to pray - no matter how self- interested we may be at first, if we are open to the voice of the Holy Spirit our prayers cannot remain just words. The whole impulse of the Spirit of God is one of moving out to those in need and embracing issues that we may normally baulk at. Far from being the easy option, prayer works on us too. Which is why Jackie Pullinger could follow the leading of God into the drug ghettoes of China; why Father Damien could leave his comfortable existence to live in a community of lepers, to bring the message of God's love to people rejected by the world. Why Corrie ten Boon could bring people who had treated her and her family cruelly to Christ - and mean it. The actions of those who pray reveals more to us about the mind and heart of the Creator than we can imagine.

In the well-known tale of David and Goliath, Goliath was a pretty imposing character. He promised power but he couldn't deliver. The real power was in the trust of David who was humble enough to realise that what he faced was bigger than he was - and he had the good sense to turn to one who was even bigger than himself and his enemy to deal with them.

Pray-ers would say that this is what they do. Often the world compromises with Goliath but only God can hit him between the eyes!

And for those of you who see no excitement in the prospect of praying, where is your imagination… The Bible abounds with the news that prayer is warfare. "Weapons of mass destruction" seems to be a mantra for the modern world, which strikes fear into us all. But how about prayer as a powerful weapon? During the war in Iraq, I was struck by the many reports of ill equipped soldiers whose activity was impeded because of lack of the proper kit. Their boots melted in the heat, their guns stuck - the list went on and on.

The Christian is infinitely better provided with spiritual armour and weaponry - and God invites us all into where the real arena is (Ephesians 6:10-18). Will you stand and be counted?