Why, Lord?

“He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” (Luke 22:41-44)

“Nothing challenges our faith more than when we feel as if God is indifferent to our cries for help.”

A great challenge of praying is that we must remember that our God is both loving and powerful. Not only does He love us with passion that exceeds our understanding, but God is also powerful enough to intervene at any moment to change our circumstances. He may not always change the circumstance and more often He does not, so the question is why?

Our faith gets tested all the time and sometimes the situation is rather extreme. It can be a challenge to love the One who could have changed a situation or even saved a life. God puts us through trials and even though we may not understand them we must have faith that that God is with us and loving us no matter what.

Jesus was fully man and suffered like a man would, though without sinning. Jesus knew what He was about to face and that the plan was from the beginning to redeem the fallen humanity. He knew that His Father would allow Him to drink from the cup of His wrath and not deliver Him. Jesus knew that when God was telling Him no, He was still with Him.

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42)

So when God says no instead of asking “why” we must say “be with me Lord.” Remember that God is with us to hold us through the trials.  

“The trouble with our praying is we just do it as a means of last resort.” Will Rogers

If God knows everything and has already planned what will happen in life, then what difference do our prayers make? Is prayer just an exercise to please God; is it simply a behavior that identifies us as Christians?

                For religious leaders in the days of Christ, spirituality was based on how loud your wailing was and how you cried to God. They would publically announce yes, they are fasting…yet again. To the scribes and Pharisees the laughter and joy that Jesus’ disciples had was showing a lack of spirituality. Jesus saw in His disciples a promise of joy and healthy prayerful lives, even in those disciples that some would consider incapable of such faith. For example Matthew, who was a tax collector, tax collectors were viewed as cruel people in the time of Christ. Tax collectors were thought so poorly of that Jesus gave His famous Sermon on the Mount and used tax collectors as an example to say: “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?” (Matthew 5:46). So if showing love to someone you already love is an indication of faith, consider what showing love for someone you despise can do.  Jesus looked at Matthew and saw beyond the job description and saw into his heart. When Jesus asked Matthew to leave his life to follow Him he was excited and even threw a lavish party so others could meet the Man who changed his life.

                For the religious leaders prayer was a method to impress both God and man. It was important to them to show how “spiritual” they were. Jesus told the Pharisees He had come to show a new way to live: to love and pray. Prayer is not an external ritual that should be on a to-do list; the way you pray does not make look like any more of a devout follower of God.  To the Pharisees, prayer had nothing to do with the relationship with God.

Prayer can’t be just going through the motions, for it is our strongest means of communication with our creator. The benefits of praying are:

Trust:

“I believe you are in control”

“I believe you love me”

“I believe you make everything work out for good no matter how things appear”

Prayer gives us a deep awareness of God’s trustworthiness

Love:

Prayer is a way for us to experience love. And not just us showing love for God, but receiving love from God.  

Change:

Prayer can affect and change God’s plan. God has listened to the petitions of His people and has chosen to even change His plan. No, it’s not all the time but sometimes. In Genesis 18, God is determined to destroy the city of Sodom. Abraham asked God if He would change His mind if there were fifty righteous people there, and God agreed. Yes, God did end up destroying Sodom. But God was willing to listen to one of His servants and change His mind.

Prayer makes a difference in us, although it might not make a difference in our unchanging God, He does greatly appreciate hearing from us. When used as more than just a ritual, prayer allows us to communicate with God and be reminded of His love and plan for us.