Does Prayer Work?
01. Original Prompt
The ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus said, “It is folly for humans to pray to the gods, for that which they have the power to obtain for themselves.” And yet 80% of Americans pray regularly (Newsweek Mar 31, 1997). Arthur Schlesinger Jr., the American historian, said, “More than a third of American adults claim that God speaks to them directly. Am I alone in finding this a scary statistic?” (The Wall Street Journal, Nov 22, 1995) If God is talking to Americans and prayers really work, shouldn’t those Americans be coming out ahead of those who don’t speak to God and pray? Or is it just easier to pray for what you want than to work for it?
02. Intro
The following paper is a response to the prompt stated above which critiques prayer and raises questions about its use and effectiveness. To cover the given objections about prayer and the claim that it doesn’t work, I will address the criteria in determining whether or not something “works” as well as the Biblical purpose of prayer in order to determine if prayer actually works or if, as the prompt presumes, it is a foolish delusion employed by those unwilling to embrace reality.
03. Criteria in determining if something works
In order to determine whether or not something works, the purpose of it has to coincide with the result. For example, to determine if the Pythagorean theorem works, the number the theorem produces should match the true measurement it is meant to produce, which is the hypotenuse of a right triangle. If the result of the theorem is the exact measurement of the particular hypotenuse in question, it can be said that the theorem works, if not, it doesn’t work. Furthermore, if someone supposed the purpose of the theorem was to produce some other result, they would conclude the theorem does not work; not because it in fact doesn’t, but because they were ignorant to the theorem’s actual purpose. This same criteria should also be applied to prayer. If the result of prayer coincides with its purpose, one can conclude that prayer “works.” However, if the purpose and the result do not match up, the conclusion would be that prayer does not “work.”
Anyone who has ever prayed to God before, asking him to give them something or to do something for them has experienced the result of nothing happening. A large portion of people’s petitions to God result in nothing happening. Because of this evident and indisputable result of many petitions to God, there are two possible conclusions. Either prayer does not work, or the petitioner’s perception of the purpose of prayer was incorrect. Now in order to determine which one of these two possibilities is true, I must discuss the purpose of prayer as presented in the Bible.
04. The purpose of prayer
When seeking to discover the true purpose of prayer, it is of vital importance that common tradition is not mistaken for correct theology. Therefore, nothing that follows comes from “my humble opinion,”
but from sources that contain the true definition and use of prayer, primarily the Bible, with my own words acting only as a commentary.
The Greek word for prayer, proseuxē, means “the God-ward exercise of learning how to agree with the Lord. It is personal interaction with God to exchange our wishes for learning God’s will through faith.”[1] Luke 22:45, Acts 1:14, and Matthew 21:22 are a few examples where the English word “prayer” is translated from the Greek word “proseuxē.” In prayer, the believer receives faith from God, i.e. His persuasion, about the matters we are lifting up to Him. In order to receive faith from God through prayer, the believer must treat prayer as two-way communication with God; as a dialogue, not a monologue, which enables the believer to hear God’s voice and discern His will. This two way communication and receiving from God is missed when someone goes to God solely with requests. Requests to God are not forbidden or even bad; however, a prioritization of the request aspect keeps the person from experiencing the true purpose and greater blessing of prayer, which is to become intimate with God and receive faith about His good will. It is difficult to receive faith from God about His good will if we are continually trying to change His mind and convince Him of ours. Prayer is not a tool to use God, but a conversation with God.
The real purpose of prayer is not to change God’s mind because God is immutable.[2] Rather, prayer is about communing with God, fortifying the person for the tests of life. This means that people are to act with God, not for God. Even though bringing requests to God is a good thing that even Jesus himself demonstrated, true prayer always ends with “your will be done,” which Jesus also demonstrated.[3]
I should also briefly address the concern given in the prompt that “If God is talking to Americans and prayers really work, shouldn’t those Americans be coming out ahead of those who don’t speak to God and pray?” Although this view is common, it is not scriptural. The Bible never promises that prayer will turn things around in the temporary. And this doesn’t change even if we pray louder, longer, or harder, or if we are morally better people. In prayer we embrace the trust that God is working out all things for our eternal best and His glory.[4][5] With this biblical definition in mind, I shall next address common deviations from it.
05. Misunderstandings of prayer
Possibly the most common misunderstanding and misuse of prayer is to view or approach God as an instrument at our disposal. However, God is not a genie who exists to grant our wishes. To approach God as such an instrument is to reverse the roles of man and God. God is not a means to an end; He is the end. God is not a means to life, he is the life.[6] Jesus is not merely a path to heaven, he is the essence of heaven.[7] And prayer is not a means to receive something from God, but instead, to receive God himself. In other words, the true purpose of prayer is not to seek God’s hand, but to seek His face. We misuse prayer by trying to manipulate the Lord to be our heavenly power and cosmic servant. We think we can negotiate guaranteed deals with God if we behave and pray a certain way. This easily lapses into trying to do God’s will in man’s way. Treating God as a genie who exists simply to grant our wishes leads to us playing god by telling him what’s best and what he should do. It is absurd that a mere human should think or assert that he knows better than God or has a greater perspective than God. The very term “God” requires complete understanding and a superior perspective. Anyone or anything that does not have these things is not God and should not be worshipped or recognized as such. Therefore, if
you are praying to God, you are, by definition, praying to one who knows better than you and has an all-encompassing perspective. This must be mentioned and understood because a true understanding of prayer begins with a correct theology of God. A person must know who God is before making conclusions about what he does or should do for us. Because God is god, we should pray not in an attempt to play God, but to seek him. If God answered all of our prayers, he would simply become a means to an end and people would come to him for the wrong reasons. Instead of a proper approach of wanting to be used by God, we would default to using God for our own gain. I must also quickly address the notion that the Bible promises that all prayers will be answered and that an unanswered prayer disproves either the realness of prayer, the credibility of the Bible, or even the existence of God. This misunderstanding about prayer is a result of either neglecting context or receiving information by hearsay instead of directly from the source.
Many people try out prayer but soon discount it when their petitions are not quickly answered. However, the Bible never guarantees that all of our prayers will be answered and gives no timeline for the ones that will be answered. Furthermore, the Bible even gives reason for why many prayers are not answered at all. James, the brother of Jesus, said that we often don’t receive what we ask for because we ask with selfish motives centered around our pleasures[8]. This may seem contradictory to other verses[9][10] about prayer which seem to say the opposite, such as Matthew 21:22 which says, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”[10] However, it is vital to compare scripture with scripture to make sure it is being interpreted correctly. John 14:13-14 and John 15:7 bring a more complete picture. In John 14:13-14, Jesus says, “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”[11] Also in John 15:7 where Jesus says, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”[12] There are apparently conditions to God giving someone whatever is asked. Those conditions being that the person must have the glory of God as the utmost goal[11], must ask in the name of Jesus instead of oneself[11] (meaning to ask out of love for Jesus not love for oneself), must remain in Jesus[12] (meaning to continually surrendering one’s heart to him), and Jesus must remain in the person[12] (meaning to live according to his word). These conditions completely rule out the possibility of prayer being a means for Christians to simply “get ahead” or receive whatever they desire, because these conditions are not self-centered but Christ-centered.
Because the Bible does not promise material or temporal blessing through the means of prayer and even speaks of its purpose conversely to that belief, an unanswered prayer does not nullify its power or mitigate its implications.
06. Conclusion
Throughout the Christian scriptures (especially the new testament) it is evident that God is more concerned with our eternity than our temporary circumstances.[13] If at any point a material blessing to our temporary circumstance would allay our hope in Jesus for eternal things, cause us to admire Jesus for what he gives us instead of for who he is, or decrease our desire and commitment to live in his will instead of our own, God will likely not give that blessing. As Jesus himself said, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?”[14] It may be argued here that the Bible is filled with instances of Jesus healing people and God granting temporal blessing, so why doesn’t that continue presently to the same degree? However, the reason for these instances in the Bible was less about
people being temporarily blessed and more about Jesus authenticating his identity and proving his claims.[15]
It is worthwhile now to repeat that the Greek word for prayer, proseuxē, always applies to getting into God’s presence and coming out with His persuasion. It is not man who is to persuade God, but God who is to persuade man. Therefore, our responsibility and privilege in prayer is to know God with His joy and power, not to make the outcomes of life successful according to our human perspectives and expectations.
With the proper definition and a more complete understanding of prayer now established, the previously discussed criteria for determining if something works can be applied to prayer. It is unmistakable that the prompt which this paper is in response to is mistaken in implying that prayer does not work based off of Christians not coming out ahead, because even though many prayers for temporal blessing are not granted, the overarching purpose of prayer is not to receive temporal things. Therefore, it is foolish to conclude that prayer does not work based on the result of Christians not “coming out ahead” in terms of health, wealth, or any type of worldly prosperity. A person who concludes that prayer does not work based off of not receiving that which they prayed for may be correct in their observation of the outcome of their particular case but is greatly mistaken in what the purpose of prayer actually is, meaning their basis for evaluation is faulty and; therefore, their conclusion invalid.
The response contained in this paper does not address every nuance in which prayer is involved or mentioned but only scratches the surface and serves as a general explanation to the biblical definition and use of prayer. A complete coverage of the topic would require a paper much too lengthy for the present purpose. And so, I will end with this. Even though those who pray may or may not receive temporal blessings from God, through prayer the believer always receives eternal blessing. Regardless of whether or not our prayerful petitions are granted, the purpose and power of prayer remains, because God may not always answer someone’s prayers, but he never wastes their faith.
There is still much obscurity when it comes to prayer, especially concerning why many prayers are not answered. When it comes to why God doesn’t answer certain individual prayers, we don’t always know the exact reason. But through the lens of the cross of Jesus Christ, we know what the answer isn’t. “It can’t be that he doesn’t love us. It can’t be that he is indifferent or detached from our condition. God takes our misery and suffering so seriously that he was willing to take it on himself.”[16] Therefore, the reason for God not answering prayers must be something other than a lack of love, a removed presence, or an insufficient ability, for he proved these notions false through the cross of Christ.[17]
Notes:
[1]. Archer, Gleason L., and Gary Hill. “Prayer.” The Discovery Bible, HELPS Ministries Inc., 1987
[2]. “Malachi 3:6.” The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Version. Nashville: Word Bibles, 1997
[3]. “Luke 22:39-42.” The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Version. Nashville: Word Bibles, 1997
[4]. “Matthew 6:7.” The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Version. Nashville: Word Bibles, 1997
[5]. “Romans 8:28.” The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Version. Nashville: Word Bibles, 1997
[6]. “John 14:6.” The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Version. Nashville: Word Bibles, 1997
[7]. “John 17:3.” The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Version. Nashville: Word Bibles, 1997
[8]. “James 4:3.” The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Version. Nashville: Word Bibles, 1997
[9]. “Mark 11:24.” The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Version. Nashville: Word Bibles, 1997
[10]. “Matthew 21:22.” The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Version. Nashville: Word Bibles, 1997
[11]. “John 14:13-14.” The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Version. Nashville: Word Bibles, 1997
[12]. “John 15:7.” The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Version. Nashville: Word Bibles, 1997
[13]. “Matthew 6:19-21.” The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Version. Nashville: Word Bibles, 1997
[14]. “Matthew 16:26.” The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Version. Nashville: Word Bibles, 1997
[15]. “Matthew 9:6-8.” The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Version. Nashville: Word Bibles, 1997
[16]. Keller, Timothy. The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Scepticism. Hodder & Stoughton, 2009.
[17]. “Romans 5:8.” The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Version. Nashville: Word Bibles, 1997