Praying Like an Atheist
The bottom line is one of the two: either prayer changes
things or it doesn’t. Personally, I’m
offended by statements like, “Prayer is good for the person praying,” or
“Prayer changes the heart of the one praying.”
Yes, these are true statements, but they are the bare minimum of what
you can say about prayer. Based on these
statements, any concerned atheist might recommend prayer as being good for
one’s mental and emotional health. I’d
like to think we Christians expect more from prayer than atheists do. Sometimes however, based on the prayers I
hear, we don't.
Suppose your teenage son came to you looking for some
money. “Dear father, I’d like to go on a
date,” he says, “and if it’s your will and doesn’t conflict with your plans for
me, I’d appreciate some help financially.
If there’s some reason you might not think it best for me at this time
to have money for a date, that’s fine.
Help me to accept your will with grace, and give me wisdom to
understand. Give me the grace to go on a
date without money, or help me to understand that I should not go on a date at
all. So long as I’m pleasing to you,
dad. Your will be done. Thank you.”
As a father, I’d be likely to give this kid money just to
shut him up, except it sounds like maybe he doesn’t want to go on a date and
I’m the excuse he’s looking for. If I
did give him the money, he’d actually have to take the girl out! What does he really want? His requests seem contradictory.
Seeking clarification, you tell your son, “Just tell me
what you want.”
He responds, “Dad, I want $30.00.”
Now that you know what he wants, you can respond
intelligently. “You want $30, go get a
job. In my day....”
You’ve probably noticed, however, that children don’t ask
for things in a round-about way. They
simply say what they want. Why might
that be? Duh! (Duh is a theological term, based on the Greek word 'du' which means duh.) Your kids tell you what they want because they really want what
they want! More than that, they actually see a
connection between asking for what they want and getting what they want! Like every other parent, I sometimes
(pronounced “usually”) say no. But at
least hearing “No” lets a child know where he is. A vague non-request is likely to receive a vague non-answer.
Many Christians pray prayers, publicly at least, that are
not prayers at all. These requests are
so safely couched in terms that give God the option of doing anything or
everything - or nothing - and still answering the prayer, that I wonder if God
even listens. These prayers don’t
actually ask for anything.
I think safe prayers are prayed by people who don’t
believe God answers prayer, but are afraid to admit it.
Look for a safe prayer in your Bible. You will find pleading, argument, complaint,
and urgent intercession, but no prayers that give God options A through D. The safest example of prayer you might find
is the “Our Father.” Why is it
safe? Because it is a generic model
prayer, rather than an actual prayer. It
is not the result of specific needs or wants, so does not express specific
needs or wants. Which makes it safe, and
likely explains it’s popularity for repetition.
Look instead to Elijah’s example. God tells us to praqy like Elijah, who "prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it did not rain on the earth for
three years and six months. And he
prayed again, and the sky poured rain.... (James 5:17-18)” That’s a bold prayer, held forth as an
example of how God answers the prayers of His people. Not only was it a bold prayer, but God
answered it clearly. In part because He
could understand what Elijah really wanted.
