Let Us Pray

I was listening to Dennis Prager’s commentary on the books of Genesis and Exodus and he said something I thought was very pithy and profound:

“Pray as if everything depends on God; work as if everything depends on you.”

Augustine?

This seemed to answer the question I posed in my blog, “What is Enough?” about my struggle with the trade-off between giving my problems to Yahweh and solving them myself.

The allegory of a local flood comes to mind:

A man lives along a river and the dam upstream is failing.  The water rises to five feet above ground level, and he prays for divine intervention to save himself and his home.  While praying, a neighbor comes by and offers to take him to high ground, but the man refuses, “I have faith that God will answer my prayers.”  The neighbor goes off to help others and promises he will try to return.

When the water rises to ten feet about ground level, the man sits in a second story window and continues his fervent prayers for his life and his home.  An Army helicopter sees him climbing out the window, up unto the roof, to escape the rising waters.  They throw down a harness so they can winch him up into the helicopter, but the man protests asserting that his God will save him and his home because of his prayers.

The helicopter sees a nearby family on their roof that appears to want help so they fly over and winch them up as the dam suffers a catastrophic failure and everything in the valley below is swept away by the torrent of water.

The man (let us call him, Gus) gets to heaven and demands an audience with God.  After being ushered into the throne room, he demands to know why Yahweh refused to answer his impassioned prayers.

“I sent a boat and a helicopter, Gus”, Yahweh explained.  “What more should I have done?”

“Pray as if everything depends on God; work as if everything depends on you.”

Should you pray for Yahweh to turn on the light switch or should you just reach over and flip the switch?  He gave us a mind, and a sound body so we should do what we can, thank Yahweh for the abilities he has given us, and ask for help when there is actual need.

“Pray as if everything depends on God”

I am horrible at prayer . . . maybe because I do not practice enough?

Pray without ceasing.

1Thessalonians 5:17

I do a lot of ceasing – life gets in the way and I lose focus.

I also like to condemn myself by asking, “Why would a good and righteous God want to waste time listening to me?”

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

2Chronicles 7:14

We need to stop making it about us. He wants to do things for us, but we turn away.

If you have children, you know this feeling. Even after they are grown, you want to bless them, but you cannot force yourself on them. They may want to show you they are independent by not coming to you for help . . . still, you wish they would.

The converse is also true. If they come to you and and ask for $5000 to fix their car, but you know they have a drug habit, you will not finance their addiction, if you love them. It is better to offer them something they need rather than what they want.

Solomon was ready to dedicate the Temple he built in Jerusalem, and Yahweh speaks to him.  Yahweh will reside in the Temple, but He warns Solomon that a day will come when the people turn their backs on the LORD.  They will remove themselves from the protection of Yahweh, but He will hear their prayers when they remember Him again. “If my people, which are called by my name” . . . “my people” refers to believers.  Abraham was a “my people” before there were Jews.  The non-Israelites that left Egypt with Moses and company were called “fellow sojourners” and were to be treated the same as the Jews if they kept the Torah (Exodus 12:48-49).

Is there a formula for proper prayer?  Christians seem to think so:

⁹ After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. ¹⁰ Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. ¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread. ¹² And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. ¹³ And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. 

Matthew 6:9-13

One summer during college, I sold Bibles door-to-door.  I was still a Roman Catholic and very much ignorant of the Word, but even I was surprised by the number of folks who thought my merchandise was illegitimate because the verses in Matthew were not the same as what they repeated each week in church . . . until they checked their own Bible and saw that, like mine, they did not match they repeated each week in church.

Yeshua never told his disciples, “repeat this prayer, verbatim.”  He told them it was a template (a formula?) for how to pray to the Father.

1. State who you are directing the prayer to and revere His name;

People pray to Yahweh, Yeshua, dead saints, dead relatives, and inanimate objects (“Please, car, start . . . please, please!).  Yahweh and Yeshua are alive and capable of hearing prayers.  The Word repeatedly states that the dead are dead and incapable of hearing and/or acting

2. Reverence Him and His ability to do what you are going to ask;

When you ask someone to do something for you that you cannot do yourself, it is incumbent that you recognize their ability to do and acknowledge that they have skills you do not possess.

3. Acknowledge that His Will is of utmost importance;

Yahweh has been working on restoring man and the rest of His creation since the Fall of Man.  This is the eventual goal of all He does.  Confess that you want to be a part of that goal

4. Ask for something that He can do inside His Will;

Yahweh does not do things that contradict His Nature.  George Carlin, when he was in school, asked a Priest, “If God is all-powerful, can he make a rock so big that he, himself, can’t lift it?”  Yahweh is not “all”-powerful.  The Word says that He cannot lie (1Samuel 15:29; Numbers 23:19; Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18), so He cannot contradict Himself.  He is not going to bless you so you can harm yourself and/or others.

5. Ask for forgiveness for our faults and omissions, because we promise to do the same to others;

“We’re not worthy!” but help us anyway because we want to be worthy and we will try to do the same for others.

6. Ask him to help in avoiding temptation, and help bring us back when we succumb to it;

We are in the middle of a spiritual war whether we want to admit it or not.  Might as well admit it and ask for back-up.

7. Again, acknowledge His ability and reverence Him.

The “Lord’s Prayer” is a template, not a rite.  Right before he teaches them, Yeshua tells the disciples, do not keep repeating the same verbiage.

⁷ But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. ⁸ Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

Matthew 6:7-8

So how does one “pray without ceasing” without resorting to “vain repetitions”?

And it came to pass in those days, that he [Yeshua] went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.

Luke 6:12

Do you think he repeated the “Lord’s prayer” a dozen times?

⁶ Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Phillipians 4:6-7

Prayer and supplication – with thanksgiving.  Prayer is more than just absent-mindedly repeating the same verses each week.  1 Timothy expands on the ways to pray.

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;

1Timothy 2:1

1. Supplications: petitions for yourself – always used with the word “prayer”, never by itself (i.e., “prayer and supplication”)
2. Prayers: restricted to prayer to Yahweh, “marking the power of Him who we invoke”
3. Intercessions: requests for others on their behalf.
4. Giving of Thanks:  “In every thing give thanks” (1Thessalonians 5:18).  One does not give thanks for every thing, that would be weird.

“Thank you for breaking my leg in that car crash” versus “Thank you that my injuries were not worse.”

“Pray as if everything depends on God . . .”

Answer me when I call to you, my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; have mercy on me and hear my prayer.

Psalm 4:1

Pray often (without ceasing)

¹ And he [Yeshua] spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; ² Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: ³ And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. ⁴ And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; ⁵ Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. ⁶ And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. ⁷ And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? ⁸ I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

Luke 18:1-8

In Daniel 10, Daniel prays for three weeks when an angel appears.  The angel tells him,

¹² Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. ¹³ But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.

Daniel 10:12-13

What if Daniel had stopped after two weeks?

Pray often and don’t be haughty about it.

⁹ And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: ¹⁰ Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. ¹² I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. ¹³ And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. ¹⁴ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Luke 18:9-14

Yeshua, again, warns against being haughty in prayer (this warning is given right before he shares the “Lord’s prayer”).

⁵ And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. ⁶ But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

Matthew 6:5-6

⁸ The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.

²⁹ The LORD is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.

Proverbs 15:8, 29

¹⁹ And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away. ²⁰ And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away! ²¹ Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. ²² And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

Matthew 21:19-22

Prayer is not a magical incantation.  People want to believe that if they say the right things, in the right way, with the correct amount of emotion, then Yahweh will answer their prayer. Have you ever seen a TV evangelist that didn’t weep while praying to emphasize the serious nature of their incantation?

First, Yahweh does not do things that contradict His Word, so do not pray and “believe” for someone’s death, or to have a married person have an affair with you.  The wrong god might help bring that to pass and you will be the worse for it.

Secondly, if you take Yeshua’s landscaping tips and ask him to remove your neighbor’s house that blocks your view of the ocean, what is to keep him from praying to Yahweh for him and his house to return to the original location?

Back and forth and back and forth . . . .

Yeshua must have received revelation from his Father to curse the tree.  The olive tree is a symbol of the nation of Israel, so the cursing of it would be a metaphor for the disciples.  Praying for a tree to wither away within the space of a day would not be something people ordinarily pray for because it is not possible for a tree to do this naturally.

Why didn’t Yeshua just believe and heal everyone?  Why didn’t he just believe and kick the Romans out?  Why didn’t he just believe and come down from the cross?

Satan tempted Yeshua in the wilderness and told him to command that the rocks change to bread (Luke 4).  Yeshua refused.

And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

Luke 4:4

His Father had not told him to change it to bread, or lasagna, or a banana split. 

Prayer is not a magical incantation.  Yeshua always sought his Father’s Will in everything he did.  If he expressed a miraculous desire, odds are that his Father told him to do it for the benefit of the people that witnessed the miracle.

1Kings 17-18 is a hell of a story. I highly recommend that you read this one for yourself and not rely on my narrative.

King Ahab and Jezebel reign. She has tried to kill all the prophets of Yahweh, but Elijah has been difficult to find.

Yahweh tells Elijah to declare there will be a drought until he rescinds the curse . . . then he goes into hiding. If he was hated before then, boy, howdy, he has become number one on Jezebel’s top ten list.

Three YEARS later, Elijah (who thinks he is the only prophet left) comes out of hiding and challenges the 850 prophets of Ba’al (satan) to a public contest.

The two sides are to build two altars and prepare two bulls for sacrifice to their respective God/gods. The challenge is that no human may start the fire. The God/gods had to provide the fire. Elijah asked the assembled Israelites to follow whoever provided the fire and they agreed.

Elijah let the Ba’alites pick their bull (so they couldn’t claim Elijah got the better animal) and start first.

The 850 danced around and called out to their gods all morning. Eventually Elijah started trash talking about their god being asleep or using the necessary. This infuriated the mob and they began to cut themselves to show their devotion and to mix human blood with the sacrifice. It must have be quite a sight.

At the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah tells the onlookers to dig a trench around his sacrifice and then soak down the offering and the wood three times (the Biblical number for completeness), filling the trench and making it even more difficult to start a fire. He then begins to pray

³⁶ And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. ³⁷ Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.

1Kings 18:36-37

Elijah acknowledged who he sought comfort from and reverenced the one who had the ability to give him what he need. He asked for a sign that would

1. intercede on behalf of Israel who had lost their way, and
2. give Elijah the public credibility he needed (supplication) to keep from being killed by the rulers of Israel.

³⁸ Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. ³⁹ And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.

1Kings 18:38-39

I bet they did.

Then Elijah had the 850 led away and he beheaded everyone of them.

“Pray as if everything depends on God . . .”

Because everything might.