PRAYING
ON A CRUTCH
Of
all of the spiritual blessings which we enjoy in this life, prayer
must surely be among the greatest. In times of sorrow, temptation,
and pressing troubles, the Christian's awareness of the importance of
prayer is heightened. It is in such troublesome times that one
realizes his total dependance on the loving Father in heaven. Sadly,
however, it is only in such times that the blessing of prayer is
exercised by many who profess to believe and follow Christ. This is
a sad commentary on the life of any Christian. Paul exhorted the
Romans to be "...continuing steadfastly in prayer" (Rom.
12:12) and to the Thessalonians he wrote, "pray without
ceasing." (1 Thess. 5:17). It is thus to be understood that
prayer is not a tool to be used at our own whim or just when we are
in a "tight," but is to be engaged in often and not limited
to times of trouble but in times of joy and prosperity as well. We
are to maintain a disposition of prayerful readiness at all
times.
"The
effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." (Jas.
5:16), but this is not to be misunderstood to say that every prayer
we utter will be answered in the way we think it should be, or as
soon as we would desire. Mary and Martha asked Jesus to come and
heal their brother, Lazarus, but He did not come immediately as they
had anticipated in their urgent plea for help (Jn. 11). When Lazarus
finally died, his sisters viewed his death as the end of their hope.
Their faith in Jesus' ability to heal their brother while he lived
was evident in Martha's statement to Jesus, "Lord, if You had
been here, my brother would not have died." (vs. 21) Jesus did
answer Mary and Martha's petition, but not as soon
as they had anticipated nor in the way
they had expected. He raised Lazarus from the dead and thus
fulfilled their desire.
Because
"...your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask
Him." (Mt. 6:8) His answer to our prayers are sometimes with a
"NO,"
as in the case of Paul. Paul asked that his "thorn in the
flesh" be removed (2 Cor. 12:8-9) but God's answer was, "My
grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in
weakness." He knew what was more needful to Paul and thus
answered the prayer with a denial.
Considering
all of these aspects of prayer, it is important that we use prayer
properly and not as those whom James rebuked by saying, "You ask
and do not receive because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on
your pleasures." (Jas. 4:3) James also warned that we must
"...ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a
wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man
suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;" (Jas.
1:6-7) For this reason, we must examine ourselves and consider our
requests before we ask.
There
is a phrase which is used quite often in public prayers (and likely
in many private prayers as well) which is a typical followup to
urgent pleas for God's help in matters of great concern and distress,
especially when asking His blessings on those who are physically ill.
The phrase usually goes something like, "...if it be according
to Your will." This can be easily abused even to making
unacceptable the petition which it follows.
Jesus
taught His disciples to pray, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be
Your name. Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
(Mt. 6:9-10) When Jesus prayed in the garden before He was to be
taken and put on trial and then be crucified, He prayed, "O My
Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless,
not as I will, but as You will."
(Mt. 26:39) Let it be noticed that in both of these cases, a similar
phrase is used but in the form of a general statement of submission
on the part of the One making the request. In neither of these cases
was it stated in a manner so as to relate any doubt as when we say,
"IF
it be according toYour will." This is not to say that the
latter expression is unscriptural. The acceptability of such a
phrase in our prayers is determined by the context of its meaning in
our heart. I fear that it is sometimes the case, however, that such
a statement is used as a crutch to support a lack of faith in the
request or in God's willingness or ability to answer. The real
issue in all of this is: are we willing to accept His answer and be
pleased that it is according to His
will
rather than ours?
When
we precede such a petition with the word "IF,"
are we expressing doubt in our heart as to His ability
to heal the sick in the knowledge that the age of miracles has ceased
(1 Cor. 13:8-10)? Dear reader, the Lord is not limited by miracles
to accomplish that which He desires. Just because we
can't see any other way for Him to heal the sick doesn't mean that He
cannot do so by natural means that we do not understand. Therefore,
do we find ourselves asking God to "heal" those with broken
bones or flu, while we ask Him to make the one who has cancer
"comfortable" only because we doubt His ability to heal
cancer without the use of a miracle? Who are we to second guess God
or His ability?
When
we end our petition to the Lord with "IF
it be according to
Your will," are we expressing a doubt that He is willing
to answer us as we have asked Him? This reminds me of the leper that
came to Jesus after He had completed His sermon on the mount. The
leper expressed faith in Jesus' ability
to heal him, but doubt
as to His willingness.
The
leper said, "Lord, if
You
are willing,
You can make me clean." (Mt. 8:2) "Then Jesus put out His
hand and touched him, saying, 'I am willing; be cleansed.' And
immediately his leprosy was cleansed." (vs. 3) Is it that we
doubt our worthiness to receive an answer to our petition, or is it
that we doubt His mercy and His grace in extending to us His helping
hand? In either case, we are not worthy and therefore must depend
upon His mercy and grace, without which we would have no hope or
reason to pray.
Do
we know whether He will answer our prayers in the way that we desire?
Certainly not. But our desire should be that His answer will be
according to that which is most beneficial and most suited to our
need. This is what we should expect from a Father who loves us and
desires only the best for us. The problem here is not in whether God
knows how to answer our prayers, but rather the fact that "we
do not know what we should pray for as we ought,
but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which
cannot be uttered." (Rom. 8:26) What all is involved in the
Spirit's interceding is beyond my understanding, but I can
understand that "He who searches the hearts knows what the mind
of the Spirit is, because
He
makes intercession for the saints according
to the will of God.
And we know that all
things work together for good to those who love God,
to those who are the called according to His purpose." (vss.
27-28) In that knowledge there is comfort that regardless of how
poorly we may pray, He will not fail to do the right thing. What
greater comfort could we ask for?
Prayer
is not a crutch for a weak faith. Prayer is the true test of our
trust in God's providence. Weak faith does not easily lay the
burdens of the day at the foot of God's throne, turn away having been
thus relieved of a burden too heavy to be borne, and then prepares to
face another day without the cares that now remain in His hands. It
takes real faith and real trust to pray as we ought. It takes
self-denial to ask that His will be done rather than ours.
When
we finally understand these things, we are ready to "...come
boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in time of need." (Heb. 4:16) That does not mean
that we approach God with an arrogant
attitude expecting to get our own way, but rather it means that we
can approach His throne with confidence
in the assurance that He is full of mercy and ready to extend His
grace to those whom He loves. Let us remember always that
"...the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot
save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot
hear. (Isa. 59:1) He will hear if we will ask in submissive faith.
-
Gary V. Womack - March 1979 / May 2004