So, why is prayer often seen as the last resort, rather than the first response? Why would we rather take some sort of action to fix a problem rather than go to God first. I believe one of the reasons is that we often don’t believe that prayer will make any difference.
That fatalistic view of prayer comes from our ultimate view of God. Do we truly believe the words of the Bible? Do we believe that He is concerned and involved in every aspect of our own lives and the lives of the lost? Do we believe He has a plan for this world? Do we believe He is still in control, despite the things we see around us that would tell us otherwise?
It really comes down to one essential decision that Adam and Eve were asked to make in the Garden and that we are asked to make every day in our own lives...do we believe the truth of God, as shown to us in the Bible, or the lies of Satan? For every truth of God, Satan counterfeits that with his own lie.
Many people, including many Christians, look at the world around them, even at their own lives, and take on a fatalistic view...that nothing can change; the lies of Satan seem too powerful, too persuasive; that they must quietly accept the way things are, the status quo. Yet, the status quo in our world today is not how God first created our earth or how He desires it to be functioning today. God’s perfect way, that He created, does not include war, killing, divorce, abuse or slavery. Although He allows it, in His sovereignty, to accomplish His good purposes, while He was on earth and today through the Holy Spirit, He battles evil and asks us to join Him.
Jesus shares the story of a widow, in Luke 18:1-8, who was seeking justice. She continued to persistently ask the judge for justice, until finally He gave her what she asked. Jesus shared this story to show that we, as His disciples, "should always pray and not give up," (Lk. 18:1). This type of praying is called petitionary prayer.
Petitionary prayer is “rebellion - rebellion against the status quo, the state of the world in its sin and fallenness. It is the absolute and undying refusal to accept as normal what is completely abnormal. It is the rejection of every agenda, every scheme, every opinion that clashes with...God...a declaration that Evil is not a variation on Good but its very opposite,” (David Wells).
It is prayer that 1) believes that God does not want the current evil status quo to continue on earth, 2) believes that God can change things for the better through His power and 3) believes God will change things in response to the prayers of His people.
"Prayer is not magic; it does not always work; it is not something we do, but a response to what God is already doing within us and the world. Our prayers are the necessary opening that allows God to act without violating our freedom. Prayer is the ultimate act of partnership with God" (Walter Wink). It is recognizing that God is in control, He is acting, He will be faithful to our prayers and He is asking us to join Him through prayer.
While we were living in Seoul, South Korea, attending Jubilee Church, our pastor did something that I had never seen in a church before. After He was finished with his sermon each Sunday, he would ask that we pray, as a congregation, about what we had just heard. He would pick out four or five main points from the sermon. For each point, he would first pray about it and then he would have us, out-loud, pray and talk to God about how we would have Him work in our lives and in the lives of others. This would go on for about 15 - 20 minutes. I can not tell you how thrilling it was to stand amongst my brothers and sisters in Christ as we were all verbally and at the same time, pouring out our hearts to the Lord. I believe it pleased the Lord greatly. And His blessings and use of Jubilee Church are very evident. Pastor David ensured that prayer was not just something that was done quickly at the beginning and the end of the service, as a sort of duty, but that it was an essential part of our time together. And I could almost see the smile on the face of God when He heard our times of prayer.
Prayer is effective and so very necessary...it moves the hand of God!
Colossians 4:3-4 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.
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