We all have a theology of prayer...
One of the challenges of modern life is navigating the gap between what we say we believe (our formal theology) and how we live in the day-to-day (our functional theology).
Because our technological conveniences insulate us from many of the harsh realities of life, it’s easy to live like God is irrelevant. When we have a problem, we can find solutions on Google or YouTube. When we’re sick, we have access to modern medicine. When we’re lonely, we can scroll social media.
We’ve got this.
We can take care of it.
We don’t need to bother God with our problems.
If this is our approach to our faith, we’re deceiving ourselves, for we are desperately dependent on God, whether we recognize it or not. No matter how resourceful we are, we are not captains of our own fate.
But our desire for control isn’t just a modern problem. Throughout history, people have tried to take control of challenging situations in their lives. It might have been visiting a witch doctor or adopting a philosophy like Stoicism. We might like to think of ourselves as enlightened people, but we’re not all that different.
When we face troubles, instead of being our first thought, prayer becomes an afterthought. It seems too passive for our taste. We need action. So we wear ourselves out trying to fix things rather than stopping to pray first.
I encountered this truth again as I read what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 1:8-11:
We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
Prayer is active. It reorients us to the reality that God is in control, and it makes a difference in the lives of others. As Christians, we need to push back against the temptation to fix everything ourselves (how we actually live) and turn to God in prayer (what we say we believe).
I’m not saying this is easy. For many of us, it’s an ongoing struggle. But by the grace of God, the more we do it, the more natural it becomes.
O Lord, we are people who are prone to overlook prayer. Help us to become people who live out our belief that prayer is powerful. May we turn to you in our own struggles and be people who pray fervently for the needs of others.