The Problem of Prayer

Since I acknowledged allegiance to Jesus Christ I have struggled with the subject of prayer. If we are honest, all of us have the same problem that keeps returning to the forefront of our thinking. Is prayer something that works? Is prayer heard? Is prayer answered? For what should we pray? Do we submit a wishlist? Would things be the same if we did not pray? Do we hear any anwers?

All these questions are relevant and should be examined by an honest Christian. In the context of worship we hear some beautiful prayers offered to God. As a preacher I have been fortunate in sourcing some excellent prayers which I have usd in worship. As a worshipper I have sometimes experienced some pretty aweful prayers. In meetings I have experienced even worse prayers. I think that, just as I have to put a lot of thought into writing and preaching a sermon, so we should put a lot into preparing prayer. In our personal prayers the emphasis is less on the beautiful words and more on what we bring to God.

Over the years I have visited a lot of churches and shared prayer in many meetings. My worst experiences include those prayers which seem to be going for the world record for the number of times the word "just" is included. For my money those praying should take their time and find other words to use. I think we need to remember that a prayer is offered to God and that second rate prayer construction is unacceptable. In saying this I am mindful of the education and experience of the people who offer prayer.

A story is told of a competition in reciting the 23rd Psalm. One competitor was an accomplished actor and the other an old farmer. The actor pulled off an amazing performance whilst the farmer struggled through in his own fashion. At the end the adjudicator gave the prize to the farmer. When asked why he said, "Well, the actor knew the Psalm but the farmer knew the shepherd." I have known some quite unusual styles of prayer and sometimes the more unusual turn out to be the more inspiring.

Recently I have made some changes to my style of prayer in public worship and in small groups. Since moving to the island of Anglesey in North Wales and changing my church membership from United Reformed Church to Methodist I have been asked to lead prayer on a rota at our Friday prayer Fellowship at Amlwch Methodist Church. This has caused me to search around for many more prayers to use and has caused me to think deeply about how prayer is offered and what form it ought to take. Basically, providing we remember the setting which is a group of people kneeling or sitting before God, we shall usually get it right.

On the subject of prayer and is it answered I have had more difficulties. I have been with others in a meditative group and have experienced no answer from the God I worship. But sometimes the answer becomes apparent in an unexpected way. Sometimes the answer takes a long time before I hear it. Sometimes my doubts are answered a lot later than the moment when they are expressed.

In discussion on the power of prayer I have been able to speak of answers that have eventually come through. However, my worst doubt has been when very important prayer has been offered and no answer has come. I cite the case when I prayed back in 1991 that the Gulf War would not happen and that an alternative would sort out the problem. There was a deafening silence and war broke out! This worsened my doubts concerning prayer and its effectiveness. Since that time I have struggled and thought my prayer was just ignored and perhaps not even heard.

The other night I was watching a second showing of "An Evening with Michael Ball" which was one of the BBC proms of 2007. Michael Ball spoke about the advent of new musicals like Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar and called to mind a song he sang called Gethsemane. It was based upon the words of Jesus as he waited in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane for his enemies to arrive and arrest him. In the original story Jesus prayed, "Father, if it be your will, take this cup from me." I deliberately cut short his words at this point. There was Jesus in his loneliest hour at his lowest ebb. As a man he was very much afraid of what was to happen to him. He knew broadly what to expect and the thought of being flogged and then nailed to a cross to die in the heat of the sun frightened him. At this moment he asked if it would be possible for him to avoid this way. I am certain he hoped for an answer that would give him hope. I am also certain he heard his own deafening silence.

For me, realising that Jesus too asked for another route out,heard no response and was taken away to be put through the ordeal, tells me that we will experience silence, even though we ask for something important or vital. I realise that God has very many different ways of answering prayer. I realise that sometimes we have to face up to what is coming, even though it involves violence and death for some people. The actual answer to the prayer is something we knew all along, that we shall have to go through the ordeal and God will be with us all the way. We may have to experience some kind of hell but God will be with us and this makes it worth while.

The purpose of coded language in the Book of Revaltion is to give hope and vindication to people who are suffering. They are assured that despite the worst that might happen they have God with them every step of the way. Not only that, but at the end of these days there is that beautiful celestial place described by John the Divine. So what we should pray is that God will stop the war or, failing this, be with us in the dark days ahead. And this is something of which I am convinced. So when you can't quite work out if prayer is answered sometimes the answer is that the silence means "no comment".

Basically, we come back to the same difficulty which is that we, as human beings, cannot find the answer anywhere. Historically, in this scenario, we have tended to blame God. There is no doubt about it - we do not always have the answer. This is when we have to trust through faith. It also tells us that life is difficult whether you are a Christian or not.

The Way Forward

Many people think of life as a journey. Christians constitute a major group of like thinkers. We see a journey before us because we are actually following Jesus. To follow someone is to be going on a journey where we accept their lead.

Our life's experience is of many different kinds of journey. Many people now own a motor car and therefore make many journeys, short and long. Today I have made two long journeys. I drove from Anglesey to Manchester and then returned by the same route. Along the way I encountered sunshine, light rain, and heavy rain. You could call this a mixed bag of weather.

When we plan a journey we always check the weather forecast to see what we are likely to encounter as we travel. We ought also to check our car to be sure there is enough petrol in the tank, sufficient oil in the engine and water in the windscreen wiper reservoir. Each of these checks is a safety measure. Even so, on our journey we might encounter something for which we cannot plan. This being so let's hope it is good news and not bad. But you never can tell. A few years ago I decided to take my wife to see the changing leaves of autumn in the Lake District. I had driven only a few miles when the unexpected occurred. I was driving in the outside lane when a car appeared travelling at a right angle across the motorway! In that split second I knew I should hit the car at speed. Luckily I had just come through road works and so was travelling slower that normal. Mt car hit the other one at 50mph and was an obvious write off. We were lucky as our only injuries were from the seat belts. However, it was several weeks before the pain subsided. Setting off that morning we could not know what would happen but we set off optimistically.

Other journeys we might make are those when we fly to other countries in todays sophisticated aircraft. I was reminded of this today as I drove past Manchester Airport and I saw a Boeing 747 taking off. A great deal of checking and planning is done before any aircraft is boarded by its passengers. Once airborne we shall probably soon become bored as the land or sea below us seems to be just drifting by. Nothing suggests we are cruising at over 500mph. Even so there are occasional unexpected happenings that take place. One year, homeward bound from Corfu, we were due to land at Rimini in Italy to refuel. The aircraft descended and then began to climb again. The pilot told us that because an Italian Air Force jet was blocking the runway we were diverting to Venice for the fuel.

Looking at the photo at the top I am reminded that many journeys are undertaken by sea. The lighthouse shown is Point Lynas in Anglesey, North Wales. It guards the passage into Liverpool Bay and the port of Liverpool itself. From day to day I see quite a number of ships passing on their voyage to and from Liverpool. Because of the special care needed a number of ships anchor off Anglesey to wait for a pilot to see them into the Port of Liverpool. Not far from the point seen here there is a memorial to the passengers and crew of a ship called the Royal Charter which ended its days on the rocks after returning ome from the Australian Gold Rush.

So we can see that journeys can be problematical and often dangerous if things get out of control. Elijah, the great prophet knew the problems of life's journey. He put as many miles as he could between himself and Queen Jezebel because he knew she was after having him murdered. At the end of this journey of fear Elijah was sitting in a cave and heard a voice calling, "Elijah, what are you doing here?" It was then that he realised he was on the wrong journey. He had taken his own route instead of seeking to know where God wanted him to go. As Christians we are called to follow wherever Jesus leads. Before we do so we say, like Thomas said to Jesus, "How can we know where you are going?" His reply to Thomas remains to this very day. Jesus said, "Iam the way, the truth and the life!" Here Jesus links his first keyword with his third - the way and the life are the same thing.

In Pilgrim's progressEvangelist asks Christian, "Why standest thou still?" Christian answers, "Because I know not whither to go. The story then enfolds that keeps on pointing Christian in the right direction. Early on in his journey he looks back, having gone through the Valley of the Shadow of Death and sees the dangers that were to the right and the left as he travelled. Like evey journey there are dangers along the way and Pilgrim's Progress points this out very clearly.

Although our journey can be very difficult indeed once we reach the end we declare it has been worth it. David Jenkins, formerly Bishop of Durham, was known for his verbosity. He never used two words if a few dozen would suffice. He was challenged to reduce a lecture to just a few words. He rose to the challenge and came up with these words: "God is, He is as he is in Jesus, so there is hope." Later he made it even simpler and said, "God is, He is for us, so it's worth it." Now that is the discovery everyone makes at journey's end, it is worth it.

Whilst in Manchester today I conducted a funeral service and chose to read the famous passage from the Book of Revelation which describes the celestial city. Having read that vision I can only emphasise that the journey of life eventually becomes worth it for the Christian. At journey's end we see Gad face to face and his light illuminates our continuing life in his presence. Everything exists in that place for our eternal happiness. Yes, it is worth it!