Monday, May 27, 2013

What to Expect when You're Praying

A strange coincidence after my last post. In fact, only a couple hours after I posted. The EF5 tornado that devastated Moore, OK was not the inspiration for that last post, but offered an example of what I was referring to. If you've seen the neat video of the woman who finds her dog amidst the rubble in the middle of a TV interview, you may have seen comments such as "God answers prayers." But what about those parents praying for their children that died? Surely God didn't answer THEIR prayers?

First, let me state that I believe in prayer and I think it's an important part of discipleship. But when we pray, what can we expect from God? If there's nothing we can expect, is prayer worth it?

While I haven't delved into the deep well of the theology of prayer, from what I've read (and experienced), our prayers should be aimed towards the will of God. Jesus teaches this both at the Last Supper and at Gethsemane. So we could say that when we pray we should expect God's will to be done. Two things, though: (1) was it God's will for children to die in Moore, OK or Newtown, CT? I don't think so. (2) We are completely unable to figure God's will (cf. Garth Brooks's song "Unanswered Prayers"), so how could we expect a specific outcome from prayer if we pray that God's will be done?

So what CAN we expect? A personal story may help. At church, there is a closet which has an intake for the air handler. The door to this closet slams as hard as any weightlifter could slam it. It's scary. I had gone into the closet to get a new banner out for Pentecost. I didn't realize it but my son was following me. He went to open the door before it had closed, but the door slammed shut on his hand. Even with my back to him, when I heard him scream I knew exactly what had happened. I couldn't have prevented it from happening. I was impotent to relieve his pain at that moment. My only option was to scoop him up, cuddle him, rock him in my arms, and give him kisses. While I was calling my wife to come get him to take him to urgent care for what I was sure were broken bones, a pediatrician walked in. She checked him out and was sure there were no broken bones and he had quit crying by now. She saved me hundreds of dollars in copays!

What this story illustrates, hopefully, is that when we pray, all we can expect from God is (1) that he loves us, snuggles us close, and rocks us through our pain, and (2) that, just as I hurt while holding my son, God suffers with us through it all.

3 comments:

  1. BEAUTIFUL. You really should read John D. Caputo. I'm going to share this with my author friend Brandon Ambrosino.

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  2. Give me one title to read and I'll add it to my list. I've got a stack of probably 2 dozen books waiting to be read, but I'm getting there. :)

    Thanks for the compliment.

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  3. Read his wiki and some of the book summaries. Can't believe I've not run into him before!

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