No secret magical way to Pray by Kelley Barton
On Sunday Brenna said (paraphrasing here)”
“If you pray long enough, desperate enough, then in a secret magical way you can get God to hear you and respond.”
Brenna was describing a common theme that can put pressure on us to “pray” a certain way. But it also raises expectation of how our prayers should be answered. And if they are not answered in the way we so desperately hope for, it can affect our faith. Sometimes to the point of leaving the church and God altogether.
The most common verse that is interpreted out of context, and sets people up for this “magical thinking”, was address by author Zach Lambert in his “Better Ways to Read the Bible”. I have pieced together a few sections from pages 194 & 195, where Zach is writing about Philippians 4:11-13.
We know from the first chapter of this letter that Paul is writing from prison. He writes this letter to the church in Philippi, mostly as a kind of thank-you note for their support of him during difficult times, but he also spends part of the letter offering encouragement of his own.
Chapter 4 is the last section of this letter. In it, Paul reminds his audience to "rejoice always" and bring all their worries to God in prayer. He promises that God's peace is always available to them, no matter what they face.
And then we come to the section that houses the infamous Philippians 4:13 (NIV)
"I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”
Paul isn’t casting God as some magical genie who grants our every wish. He's not saying that God will get us a job promotion or heal our cancer if we pray hard enough. He's not promising a life of blessings if we follow all God's rules. Paul is saying that his faith in Jesus empowers him to endure any circumstance, no matter how difficult. Paul can be content in any situation, even prison, through the encouragement of Christ and his fellow Christians. Jesus gives him strength when he has none left of his own.
I know from experience that we can pray for someone to be healed, and yet they die. That we can pray to get offered a job and we are not. We can pray for a family member to conquer their addiction and they don’t.
Now I have a better understanding to help comfort myself, and others, and to tailor my prayer more in the vein of “please help me through this” rather than “please do this for me, God.”
Give it a try. It might free up something inside you and change the way you pray/communicate with God.