We’ve been asking people to pray for us
during our time of walking the valley. So a reasonable question is, “what is prayer, anyway?” I hope to say more about this, but here is a start from the Westminster Shorter Catechism:
Q. 98. What is prayer?
A. Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, for things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies.
“Regarding offering up of our desires unto God,” I have been struck by Abram’s prayer in Genesis 15. After the Lord tells him that he will be blessed beyond measure with as many descendants as stars in the sky, his prayer is “how come I don’t have a son yet?” The man whom both Moses and Paul put forth as example of faith–credited to him as righteousness—seems to show a lack of faith, and certainly gratitude, by continually asking “why?”
That’s how it is with me. I feel compelled to ask “why?” Why did Job’s children, for example, have to get wiped out in order for Job to learn the lesson the Lord had for him? Why did the descendants of Abraham have to live in slavery for 400 years in Egypt before being delivered through the leadership of Moses? And why did the Lord say (to Abraham) that it would happen when none of these would-be slaves had even been born? And so on.
Yet it is quite a different story with Susan. She doesn’t ask, “why have I got this serious illness, which seemed to be inevitable because it came from a genetic defect at conception?” Rather, she prays declaratively, “Sovereign Lord, thank you for all the days you’ve blessed us. Each is a gift from you. Help us see things from your eyes, not our own.” Thus, while I never get off first base about “offering up my desires,” she is already heading around second praying for “things agreeable to His will.”