Monday, October 18

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“Why have we fasted, but you have not seen?
We have denied ourselves, but you haven’t noticed!”
Isaiah 58:3

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Prayer doesn’t work.

At least prayer doesn’t work the way I was taught or the way I have often taught others.

Here are a formulas I was taught to pray.

• Like Jacob who held onto the ankle of the Angel of the Lord refusing to let go until he got a blessing (Ge 32:22-32).
• Or like Hezekiah, who upon hearing that his death was imminent, turned his face to the wall and convinced God to give him 15 more years (2 Kgs 20:1-6).
• Or like Jesus teaches in Matthew 7:7-11 which says to keep on searching and asking and knocking, because the one who persists will find, receive, and have the door opened for him.

I was taught, and taught others that prayer is essentially asking. Asking until you get the answer you want. But is it true that you can just “pray like Jacob” and get a blessing? (By the way, don’t forget he was also given a wicked limp.) Or “beg God like Hezekiah” to get the healing you so badly need?

It is true that if I just ask God enough times, like a pestering child, that He will give me what I want?

I’m convinced that prayer doesn’t work like that most of the time.

Some Christians will be having a visceral reaction right now (and some atheists may be feeling pretty smug), but it doesn’t change reality one iota. If we stop and think about prayer rationally, prayer taught in this was can’t work.

Case and point: professional sports. If prayer actually worked like this then both teams would win, because both teams, and plenty of fans, are certainly beseeching God for a glorious victory.

Thank goodness that when it comes to these first-world prayer requests we have a “caveat” found right in scripture – 1 John 5:14-15 – which says that if we ask anything according to His will, we know that we have what we have asked for. So clearly, whichever team wins is simply enacting God’s will. Those poor Detroit Lions just aren’t favoured by God. (BTW: I know nothing about the NFL, I had to Google “What is the worst NFL team of all time?” to discover the shame of Detroit.)

Seems a bit silly, doesn’t it? And yet… I’m sure you’ve prayed this way for your business.

Haven’t you prayed for favour, for a deal, to become a millionaire (stop pretending you haven’t, I certainly have), for clients, for an employee to quit, for your boss to die?

Here’s a scary question: What’s your track record on prayers-prayed to prayers-answered? (What we might call your ROPP’s or “return on prayers prayed”.)

I’m willing to bet that its abysmal.

So, that leaves us with a few options:

1. You aren’t praying God’s will
2. You aren’t praying hard enough (“Keep asking…”)
3. Prayer doesn’t work
4. OR… prayer doesn’t work as we have been taught to expect.

(Pro-tip: it’s #4)

As I have grown older, I realize there are many things that simply don’t work the way I was taught and thought. But don’t despair, Jesus is remarkably patient with us. He tends to meet us where we are at and doesn’t seem to even mind accommodating some of our misconceptions to keep us moving along.

And don’t despair in me either. There is a purpose to prayer in business and I’m going to share about that in the next few days. For now, let this sit a bit uncomfortably and allow it to drive you closer to Jesus today.

Reflection

1. Pay attention to your feelings (I’m talking to you, you emotional rock!) How does it feel to read the phrase, “Prayer doesn’t work”? Why do you think you feel that way?
2. What scripture passages and experiences seem to suggest that prayer does work? Write down a few.

A Short Prayer

“Lord there is a lot I don’t understand, and I want to grow in maturity and in my relationship with you. Thank you for your patience as I struggle to understand better how to approach my faith and business in a way that honours you. Amen.”