I was listening to a comedian last night. He was extremely funny, and I really enjoyed him. In his show, he says he is an atheist. I don’t know if it is true or not and it really doesn’t matter. He likes to joke about prayer. He made a very interesting point and I want so much to write about the idea.
Here’s my thought experiment: There’s a mother with five adult children. She is dying of cancer and is in terrible pain. Three of her children pray fervently every day asking God to let the mother die so that her suffering can end. Two of her children pray fervently every day asking God to just let them have a little more time with their mother because they aren’t ready to lose her. If God listens to our prayers and answers them, what does it mean if the mother lives? What does it mean if the mother dies? Did God just totally ignore the prayers of half of the children? Does he try to answer the prayers of most of the children and ignore the two that want the mother to live?
My answer is that God answers all of our prayers. God isn’t a wish machine. That’s the problem with some people’s attitude about prayer. They think that they can ask God for want they want and if He is so inclined, he will make their wish a reality. I almost can’t believe anyone would treat their relationship with God that way. It’s simplistic and disrespectful on many levels.
More importantly, Jesus told us how we should pray with the pray “Our Father”. In the first lines, you acknowledge who God is and what His power is: Our Father who art in Heaven. Hollowed by Thy Name, Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Next you acknowledge Him for everything He has done: Give us this day, our daily bread. In other words, without You, we would starve and die. Next you ask for forgiveness: Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Finally, you ask God for guidance: And lead us not into temptation, but deliver from evil.
No where in that prayer do you ever ask God for wishes. That’s because God isn’t a wish machine. When you pray, you don’t pray for God to change His plan for our lives. You pray for God to change you. You pray for God to guide you along to right path, to help you find peace with His plan for you and grow in your faith.
Let’s go back to the thought experiment: If I was a child praying for my mother’s suffering to end at the end of my prayer, I would also say, but Your will be done, not mine. No matter what happened with my mother, I would find peace knowing that whatever happened was part of God’s plan. I would grow in faith learning to trust God even when it wasn’t exactly what I thought should happen. Life isn’t fair. Evil exists. It’s hard and it isn’t always going to be great. Life is full of pain and sorrow. I’m not going to pray and ask God to change the world for me, but I am going to pray and ask God to help me endure it, help me to be at peace, and help me by guiding me with His eternal light.
Prayer isn’t going to change God. Prayer is going to change me.
My faith saved me. May God’s peace reside in all of our hearts.
