Scattered Contemplation

So...it's hard to believe I've only been out of school for a week, but it's true. I've been job hunting, and I've applied to pretty much every restaurant in town plus Lowe's and Home Depot. One exciting outcome came from emailing a bunch of photographers from here in Decatur. One of them contacted me and asked me to come photograph at a wedding shoot in Huntsville with her which I did on Saturday from 11am-7pm. She's considering the shots from the wedding to be a kind of test to see whether she wants to hire me or not. She's supposed to contact me this week to let me know what her decision is. I would really love to get that job!

Anyways, I entitled this entry 'Scattered Contemplation' because I've been so busy that I've only had time to think in brief moments when things wind down right before they start up again. I've been thinking about prayer, faith, pain, purpose, the past and relationships. Actually I've been thinking about all of those and how they relate to God's will. I was given a book by Phillip Yancey entitled Prayer. I started to read it, but I got bored after the first few chapters. But the topic of prayer and faith is a hot one among Christians as a whole and I've heard it discussed more widely--going to a Bible college where people are intensely seeking to discover what God means in His Word, what He wants us to be and do, and how to execute His desires in everyday life.

In this area, people often have more questions than answers. For example: Why pray if God is going to do His will anyways? Why pray if I'm probably asking for the wrong things as it is? Is God going to answer my prayer if I have enough faith? What part does faith have in prayer? If I believe 100% that God will answer my prayer, will He do it? If I don't have enough faith, is God not going to answer my prayer?

If there is an answer that answers these questions completely and satisfactorily, then a lot of Christians have never heard it...whether they're in Bible college or in secular work. What they have heard are conflicting and seemingly contradictory accounts of what God will or will not do if people pray and how they pray. Being an orthodox, Bible-believing Christians means believing in the coherency of Scripture--it all fits together, and where it seems to contradict, there is actually a logically satisfactory answer for the apparent discrepancy.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 sounds very definitive and final, "pray without ceasing." Then there are the words of Jesus Himself as He speaks to His disciples who were responding in amazement of Him; these are found in Matthew 21:22, "And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith."

Okay, I could write down verse after verse, but some people would only read one thing. "If you have enough faith, your prayer will be answered." Well, here's where things get sticky and lines are drawn. Some would say that if we have the mind of Christ and are being led by the Spirit, we would never pray for something outside of God's will. I am rather doubtful of that position because of our competing flesh also at work with in us. Less powerful, yes, but equally vying for our energies. So, let's assume that Christians will, at times, pray for things outside of the will of God. They do not do this on purpose, intentionally setting themselves up against the plan of the Almighty; in fact they think they are in line with and furthering God's will by asking Him for their request. However, they are not God, they do not have His all-encompassing understanding of the greater things at work in the world. They bring their request to God humbly and genuinely and with great faith.

Now, because of their faith that their request will be answered, is God obligated--even constrained to answer their request because of their faith? Must God exact their request and grant them their desire because of their faith? I should hope the answer is obvious--no! God is not locked in a mechanical system that He Himself set up. God is not a pawn in the hand of men. So, we have that out of the way, but then there are these verses that seem to say that if we just have enough faith that God will answer of prayers, He will do it. What is to be done with these? We cannot just pick and choose what we want to be true out of the Bible; it is all true, and it is up to us to do the research to see how it all fits together in its coherent form.

As I said a few paragraphs ago, I have only had fragments of time in which to think about this issue this week, and I have barely scratched the surface on research on prayer in the Bible--much less through commentaries and the like. But, I would ask you to think through this issue and interject any thoughts you have on the matter. If I am unbalanced in my assumptions of inferences as you see it, I need to know so. I do think that having a solid theology and contemplating the actions of a God with the character we know Him to possess, we can make head way on this issue. There are no elusive secrets in the Bible that only ancient sages of theologians can understand--the Bible is for all people, and there are no secret keys needed to unlock the message of God's love and grace that the Bible contains. A real, practical and working knowledge of God serves as a filter through which we can strain the issue of prayer, faith and purpose, and I'm asking you to do that with me now. May God grant His children the wisdom and ability we need to love Him and live for Him.