This is the confidence we have before him: If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked of him. [1 John 5:14-15 (CSB)]
The Sinner’s Shack Gentlemen’s Club wanted to open an establishment in a small Midwest community. It’s a rather conservative town and, since there’s nothing gentlemanly about the goings on in such an establishment, many people were up in arms about it. When the Holier than Thou Evangelical Church started a campaign to halt the tawdry business from locating in town, prayer sessions were held three times a day and the City Council was inundated with letters and calls of protests. Unfortunately, in spite of the prayers and pleas, proper zoning was attained and construction on the “gentlemen’s club” began. Just a day before its grand opening, however, lightning struck the Sinner’s Shack and it burned to the ground!
The Holier than Thous were rather smug and self-righteous about the fire until Honey Bunn, the owner of the club, filed suit against the church, its pastor, and the entire congregation on the grounds that they were “ultimately responsible for the demise of the building and business, either through direct or indirect divine actions or means.” In response, the Holier than Thous vociferously denied “any and all” responsibility for the lightning and the building’s loss.
As the judge read through the plaintiff’s complaint and the church’s reply, he admitted confusion. “I have no idea how I will be able to decide this case,” said the judge. “I have a staunch sinner who appears to believe in the power of prayer and an entire congregation of Christians who don’t!”
Of course, this is just a bit of silly fiction, but it poses some interesting questions about our belief in the power of prayer. If we were opposed to the establishment, would we have joined in those prayer sessions or would we have considered the issue a lost cause? If we attended those prayer sessions, would we have gone out of a sense of duty or because we truly believed our prayers could make a difference? Do we ever pray without believing in the power of our prayers? Do we ever consider something such a lost cause that we don’t even bother to pray? Do we ever pray without the confidence that our prayers are heard? When our prayers are answered, as they appear to have been in the story, are we surprised? Then, instead of crediting it to the power of prayer, do we chalk it up to coincidence or good luck?
In regard to answered prayers, Thomas Aquinas said, “To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.” Nevertheless, when God’s answer is as spectacular as a fortuitous lightning strike, it’s difficult not to attribute His answer to coincidence. Nevertheless, nothing happens that hasn’t passed through God’s hand first. When we pray, we better believe that we’re praying to the almighty God who can change reality to meet a request—if it is according to His will! If we don’t believe that, there’s really no point in praying! As for those who regard answered prayers as little more than coincidence or luck, I’m with Archbishop William Temple who said, “When I pray, coincidences happen; when I don’t, they don’t.”
Coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous. [Albert Einstein]
But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord, being double-minded and unstable in all his ways. [James 1:6-8 (CSB)]
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“He’s so young!” my husband said when my brother died at the age of fifty-six. I reminded him that my dad was the same age when he died. “But he was old!” my husband exclaimed. The difference, of course, is that we were in our fifties when my brother died but only in our twenties when my father did. Now, almost thirty years after my brother’s death, our definition of “young” includes anyone under 85!
Even though pumpkin spice lattes are available, pumpkin kringles can be found at Trader Joes, and Michael’s, Walmart, and Target are displaying their Halloween décor, here in Florida, it’s still summer and rainy season. We’re experiencing temperatures in the 90s and rain nearly every day. Sometimes, it’s a real doozy with thunder, lightning, and a torrential downpour; other times, it’s just a little drizzle. God willing, the weather should improve next month and, by the time we turn our clocks back November 1, the beautiful weather here will remind us why we moved to southwest Florida in the first place.
According to Bible Gateway, the six verses of the 23rd Psalm are the most popular ones on their site, with verses 4 and 6 usually vying for first place. The seventh most popular verse, however, is today’s verse, Jeremiah 29:11. When people are going through hard times, this is the kind of verse that gets pulled out to reassure them that everything will turn out right.
In a recent Christianity Today article, Jared Dodson, teacher of biblical studies and theology at Bushnell University, wrote about his Gen Z students. They don’t ask the age-old question of why God allows bad things to happen to good people because they expect sin and evil in our fallen world. Having seen enough abuse of power, conflict, violence, rioting, exploitation, and mayhem in their young lives, they assume the good will suffer undeservedly. What they don’t understand is why the bad don’t seem to suffer along with them!
How can Jesus, who told us to love our enemies and do good to them, tell us to hate our families? Do we have to despise our relatives if we want to be His disciples? Jesus, however, used “hate” idiomatically. Demanding unrivaled loyalty, He used hyperbole to contrast ultimate devotion to Him with all other attachments. In comparison to our love for Jesus, we are to love our family less than we love Him. Christ is to be first and foremost in our hearts and minds and we are to love Him more than anything else in our lives.
