Powerless Prayer

When my stepson was fighting leukemia there were countless people around the world praying for him – Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, and others. In the Christian world, there were Catholics, Protestants, Mormons, and others. In the Protestant world, there were fundamentalists, evangelicals, mainstream moderates, liberals, and others. Outside of religion there was another mass of people sending positive thoughts and healing energy his way.

He died, nonetheless.

What happened to all those thoughts and prayers, our heart-rending, tear-filled pleas for God to bring healing and health to a 14-year old boy? Was his faith lacking; was ours? Did we fail to pray the right way? After all, we see and read about numerous instances every year in which someone is healed from this or that illness or injury, at times against all odds, and the patient and their family are quick to proclaim a miracle and to “give all honor and glory to God” for the divine intercession in response to their faith. They extol the power of faith and prayer. But, all around these people there are innumerable others who remain sick, who do not respond to treatment, and who die, sometimes painful and protracted deaths – in spite of unquestioned faith and countless prayers being offered in their behalf.

What did the healed do that the unhealed failed to do? Why did God pick one, but not another? Believers proclaim that it’s a matter of faith – if we have faith, and we pray with believing hearts, then God will answer those prayers. In this they have no doubt. Well, those who get what they pray for have no doubt. The implication for those of us who don’t get what we pray for is that we were less than faithful, less than believing, less than worthy of God’s approbation. We were doubtful, or something. If only we had prayed harder, more often, or something. If only we had believed, then our loved ones would have been saved like those of the faithful. Well … let’s see, what’s the word I’m searching for? Oh, yeah … bullshit.

When my wife and I hear of a child who recovers or is healed, we rejoice without hesitation. But, the “Praise God” chorus that is often in attendance is like a shiv in our gut. It makes us scream, “What in God’s name do you people think we did wrong!? If God answered your prayers, then explain why he didn’t answer ours!?” Cue the sound the silence.

We recently watched family and friends gathered in prayer for the miners trapped by an explosion in a West Virginia mine. When they briefly thought their miners were alive, there was jubilation in the little church where the families and friends were gathered. They quickly praised God and gave him all the credit for the miraculous rescue. Everyone there extolled the power of prayer. Less than an hour later, after learning their loved ones were dead, they weren’t praising or extolling anything or anyone. I don’t recall a more graphic depiction of the fickle finger of faith. Cue the sound of silence.

Even the most faithful believers fail to get their prayers answered. When heaven is non-responsive, rather than reconsider their beliefs about prayer, these folks reverse field and proclaim, “It’s the will of God.” I don’t think so. It’s a cop out of the highest order to profess an adamant belief in the power of prayer and then when a prayer request is not granted to profess that it’s just God’s will. If that were the case then there’s no reason to pray – just sit back and await the will of God whatever it may be. But, these people must have it both ways; they must be “right with [and about] God” at all times. So, if s/he grants their wish, God is awesome and they were faithful. If s/he doesn’t grant their wish, God is sovereign and they were still faithful. Isn’t that convenient. Either way, their God is picking and choosing based on criteria that are either arbitrary or indecipherable.

The proposition that God saves certain children and lets others die is repugnant. These some die-some don’t experiences make it clear that God is not the Big Vending Machine in the Sky; s/he is not the Name It and Claim It God of evangelical lore. God is not sitting in heaven weighing our personal worthiness for divine attention or intervention. God is not assessing the relative merits of one prayer or person vs. another. God is not waiting for us to cross some unidentified threshold of faith or belief or whatever before s/he deigns to act in our behalf.

Some prayer is powerless because it, in effect, asks the Creator of the natural order to stop the rotation of the earth, to alter the processes of the natural order decreed by the Creator of the natural order. What very few prayer warriors seem willing to consider is the distinct possibility that God does not intervene. They can’t accept a God who has set the natural order in place and then allows that order to play itself out. They need a God who tends to their needs and insecurities just like their mommy and daddy did. The need a God who shows love by giving them things they want. They need a God they can control with their faith and good deeds. They need a God who is bigger and more powerful than all other gods.

Well, we often don’t get what we need. Cue the sound of silence.