There's something I've noticed in society that has insidiously crept its way into the culture of faith. It's even touted as honourable and desirable. People buy into it and play follow the leader, no matter how dangerous it is.
It's a fallacy. It's based on a complete lie. An age-old lie.
It's the idea that human beings can change God's mind, can make Him do this or that or the other thing, just by joining forces, banding together, and overwhelming Him with requests by as many people as possible to do (or not allow) a certain thing.
It's based on the lie that we have been told since the very beginning: that we know better than He does and that we have a say in what happens to us and/or to our friends and family.
We don't.
You know, some folks think that's what prayer is about: getting God to do what you want Him to do. Which spawns that other fallacy that more people getting on His case is going to get a faster and more acceptable answer.
But it isn't. It isn't in either case.
Prayer is about friendship with God. It has nothing to do with getting Him to do something we want done. Much as we might want it. If He could be swayed by the number of people who ask for a particular thing, He would be no more than a glorified politician. How unutterably disappointing that would be! No, it's more about allowing Him inside of those lonely, parched places in our lives and letting Him take over and trusting His decisions. It's not about us, it's about Him.
Strength In Numbers (acronym: SIN - that tells me something right there) in what we call "prayer" is about making ourselves bigger, making God look smaller. It's lobbying. It's manipulating. It's coercing. It's imposing our will on His.
It's ludicrous.
It stems from a basic lack of belief that one person can matter to Him - that He would listen to one person and care about what matters to him or her. It comes from a firm faith in the ogre-ness of God: that He's a killjoy, that He is a tyrant and needs to be appeased, placated, flattered, convinced to be good.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
He invites each of us into His heart .... and we break it by trying to twist His arm.
It's a fallacy. It's based on a complete lie. An age-old lie.
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It's based on the lie that we have been told since the very beginning: that we know better than He does and that we have a say in what happens to us and/or to our friends and family.
We don't.
You know, some folks think that's what prayer is about: getting God to do what you want Him to do. Which spawns that other fallacy that more people getting on His case is going to get a faster and more acceptable answer.
But it isn't. It isn't in either case.
Prayer is about friendship with God. It has nothing to do with getting Him to do something we want done. Much as we might want it. If He could be swayed by the number of people who ask for a particular thing, He would be no more than a glorified politician. How unutterably disappointing that would be! No, it's more about allowing Him inside of those lonely, parched places in our lives and letting Him take over and trusting His decisions. It's not about us, it's about Him.
Strength In Numbers (acronym: SIN - that tells me something right there) in what we call "prayer" is about making ourselves bigger, making God look smaller. It's lobbying. It's manipulating. It's coercing. It's imposing our will on His.
It's ludicrous.
It stems from a basic lack of belief that one person can matter to Him - that He would listen to one person and care about what matters to him or her. It comes from a firm faith in the ogre-ness of God: that He's a killjoy, that He is a tyrant and needs to be appeased, placated, flattered, convinced to be good.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
He invites each of us into His heart .... and we break it by trying to twist His arm.
I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with your thoughts on this.
ReplyDeleteBecause I follow the Bible as my source for how God feels and what He would like me to do, I will attempt to explain what I have learned with that resource.
In Matthew 7, Jesus said, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"
Straight from the source, we are told to keep on asking and be as persistent and passionate with God as he is with us.
In Luke 18, Jesus gave a parable of a persistent widow - illustrating that he wants us not to simply roll over and give up when we ask and don't get what we need.
Sometimes He will answer, and sometimes, because His plan is different, He'll give us the strength to go on without what we have asked for, but he says to ASK.
True that if we are striving to be in line with God's will, we will accept that not everything we ask for is part of His plan for our lives, but there are too many examples in scripture that indicate why we should ask for what we need. Why? So we can be reminded of how much we depend on God for our needs, and not ourselves.
As far as strength in numbers - I've seen the miraculous because people had the willingness and right heart to fast and pray for their fellow man. It is not a "sin" to find strength in numbers - I believe it is part of God's design for His people. To "love one another" and help each other.
Ezra, in accompanying 5,000 people back to Jerusalem, asked them to fast and pray for protection. (Ezra 8:23) God answered that "strength in numbers" prayer.
Because we matter to God, he wants us to keep asking. And doing that in numbers isn't a sin - it's part of faith. The only part of that process that is a sin is believing that we should not pray for what we need or ask for help, in numbers or alone. We can't impose our will on God - He's GOD! He'll do whatever He knows will be done and is honored by our reliance on Him.
Ask, yes. By all means, I agree totally. ASK: alone, together, however and whenever it happens.
ReplyDeleteNot demand. Not "claim." Not think it's a right and that He HAS to jump through our hoops just because we said the right words. That smacks of religion, not a relationship based on love and trust, but of manipulation and coercion.
Much of the reason that Christians leave the church every day is how they are treated by those who think they have the right to "correct" individuals they believe are in "error" - but which amounts to a thinly veiled attempt to intimidate dissenters into submission. I've removed entire posts from my blog in response to misunderstandings where it might have been construed that I was criticizing individual leaders ... even though I was not. In this post, I was simply noting a trend that I have observed, a potential flaw that borders on a lobbyist mentality. When the faith is in the numbers more than in God, there is a problem.
I will not be drawn into a doctrinal debate with someone who may have more letters behind his (or her) name than I. It proves nothing, and only serves to heighten the disgust of those who stand by watching a train wreck take place as Christians - in a scene that is all too common - fight over minutiae and semantics: something like fleas going to war over who owns the dog they both live on.
I'm sure glad God sees the heart.