Of course, we could
challenge the opening remark. Is His will always predefined? Does He have a
fixed idea of what is best in every situation? Does He micro-manage the universe?
The answer is clearly “no”.
Our faith dare not presuppose that God bosses the world and the universe at His
whim.
Prayer mediates between the course of life and the throne above us
God made the universe to function autonomously. That is a key reason
why evolutionists and atheists perceive that the world doesn’t need God. In
some respects they are perfectly right. Wow, did I really say that?
Well, let’s consider
your own life. Does it need God to survive? At a deeper level, yes, but in
everyday terms, no, we don’t need God. I can make decisions on what to do
today, what values to embrace, how to spend money, and so on. Not even a
spiritual man needs God for that.
That is as true of the
universe. God made it, wound it up like a clock, gave it the critical laws
needed to regulate its fundamental behavior, and then took His hands off and
let it run.
Even science recognizes
that the four basic laws of all matter emerged inside the first second of
creation. Why would God lay down laws for an evolving universe, if He reserved
the prerogative to do with His universe what He pleased?
Why can’t God be the law of the universe?
It’s a challenging
question. We use the term in society, “I am the law”, to describe people in
authority, yet God distances Himself from any of that.
If God could follow
His whim, surely He would have dealt with sin, rebellion and Satan in a very
different way. If America was in charge here, they would have nuked hell, passed
a constitutional amendment to ban sin and used the national guard to deal with
all that rebellion.
God doesn’t do any of
that. Instead He submits to the laws of His universe and works within those. It
meant that He had no choice but to send His Son to die under those laws, to
save us.
Observe the Father’s
role in the events surrounding Calvary. Prior to that He is clearly positioned
as the objective validator and judge of His son’s life.
He never violates that
role and remains objectively detached, as a judge, without once intruding into
our world to alter the grim course of events that unfolded in Jerusalem.
Indeed, He even
distanced Himself from His Son and the Son cried, “where are you”, because God
refused to judge the Son subjectively. He weighed His sacrifice in terms of the
law and only on those terms. He refused to say, “Oh it’s my boy down there, so
whatever He does is good enough”.
Given all the above,
can you accept that God precludes Himself from direct intervention in life.
Even when He did intervene, through Jesus, He stayed within the bounds of His
righteous framework.
Now, let’s ask, why does God invoke prayer in
us?
The answer is hinted
at in the way that Moses mediated between God and the Jews, when God’s “whim”
was to vent His anger on His wayward people and start again.
Now Jesus mediates
between us and God and stays the hand of judgment or wrath, the way a mother
might stay the hand of an angry Father.
Yet, we are now the
players in the field of life. The church has a God-given mandate to influence
and shape the world within the bounds of His laws, and to even invoke the power
of God.
A key to healing is
generally about knowing what Jesus did for us and laid up for us as an
inheritance, and invoking that in the lives around us.
However, we were also
called to be witnesses, so as souls in and of the earth, the power of God is
vested with the church, to be harnessed and used for His glory. That is
restrained by God, for as He showed to Elijah, signs and wonders have their
place, but words and deeds matter more.
Thus, the church at
least has the power and authority, given by God, to influence the moral state
of the world and to rescue individuals from the course of destruction. Prayer
brings God into that and moves His hand, beyond what He could or would directly
instigate.
If He were to directly
and spontaneously intervene, He would risk being accused by His enemy of
judging what He manipulated. As a judge, He must hold true to His role as an
objective referee of life, in terms of which He only enforces the laws of the game
without fear or favor.
Prayer alters things
and disrupts life, as is our prerogative. If Governments can change society and
bulldozers can reshape mountains, I can be a force of good through prayer and words.
However, prayer that
presumes to manipulate life on its selfish or personal terms is not going to go
far. That would invite a world where believers move things around the board at
whim and where Christian Farmers compete with sun lovers for control of the
weather.
So, where is the balance? It is in the balance.
One of the most
elusive things about biblical truth, lies in the principle of balance. Humans
do not like balance, it is too ambiguous. Generally we prefer extremes.
Thus, a Baptist might
emphasize doctrine and truth, but under-emphasize the Holy Spirit. A Pentecostal
church might do the opposite. Very few grasp the balance between Father, Son
and Spirit and fewer yet balance Governance, Ministry and the workings or gifts
of the Holy Spirit.
The spiritual life
needs the balance implied by the temptations of Christ, namely: to live by God’s
Word, not just bread or material needs, to honor God above all and to resist
personal gain, and to live within the bounds of His laws without tempting Him.
Our personal worlds
need to find the right balance between the mind, the body and the soul, and to
manage those into an appropriate balance before God.
So prayer is a powerful instrument, but it
cannot stand alone. We need to
grasp its power, but never seek that power beyond the framework of God’s
kingdom.
I close with this simple point. Only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies to intercede for God's people. Now, with that veil torn, you and I assume the role of entering in and intervening where others can't by dint of their unbelief, the nature of their crises or their frailty.
(c) Peter Missing: bethelstone@gmail.com
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