By Don M. Aycock
What does the word
prayer bring to your mind? A regular meeting at church? A last-ditch effort to stave off some disaster? An intimate communication between you and God? All of these images, or others, might come to mind when we think of prayer.
Sometimes we can tell what a thing is by discovering what it is not. This is true with prayer. There are several popular ideas about prayer that are wrong, but these ideas are stubborn and keep cropping up in every generation. One major reason for this fact is that they are immature notions. New Christians especially are prone to believe these ideas. When a person has a chance to grow and mature in relationship to Christ, prayer life takes on a deeper meaning.
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A lottery is a game of chance. A person gambles that what he bets will reward his efforts by paying off more than the original bet. Some people seem to think of prayer in this fashion. They think, "Hey, I'll say a prayer in this situation. It couldn't hurt anything and it might pay off big."
This way of thinking is purely selfish. The sole motive behind the act is to gamble that a few words mumbled to God might "do some good." As you read the Bible you will find many prayers addressed to God. Many of those are said by people who were in trouble. They asked for help. The difference in that and the contemporary prayer-as-lottery view is this: the people in the Bible who prayed for help already had a relationship with God established. They are asking the help of the One whom they knew as the Lord. They were not just casting out words in the hopes that it might possibly be heard by "the man upstairs" and answered affirmatively.
Prayer Is Not a Twist of God's ArmAnother popular notion about prayer is that it is a way to make God do something He does not want to do. It is a way to twist God's arm to force Him to do your will. Most people would never state the case so boldly and probably most would even deny that is what they believe. However, when you hear what some people pray for, and the way they ask for it, you realize that they are trying to force their will upon God.
Doesn't the Bible have examples of this? Aren't some situations in the Bible exactly that? Consider the example of Jesus who cursed a fig tree. On what we call Palm Sunday, Jesus entered Jerusalem but then went back to Bethany to spend the night. The next morning, on Monday, He and the disciples were on their way back to Jerusalem when Jesus spotted a fig tree in full leaf. He went up to it expecting to find it as full of fruit as it was full of green leaves. He found nothing, however.
Mark 11:14 says, "Then he said to the tree, 'May no one ever eat fruit from you again.' And His disciples heard him say it." The next day, Tuesday morning, Jesus and the twelve were again going to Jerusalem. They saw that the tree had withered overnight. Simon Peter said, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!"