So I’m sitting here in my room at 8:00 on November 5th, better known as Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes’ Day in England. This is the day the English celebrate the foiling of a plan to blow up the Parliament building. Outside, fireworks are exploding constantly, making it sound as though Salford were a war zone. Inside, I’m listening to the new(ish) David Crowder*Band CD and contemplating what to write in this blog. I feel like I have so much to share with you, definitely too much for one blog post. So maybe you’ll have the joy of multiple posts this week.
I think this one will be about some of the things I’ve been learning from Philip Yancey’s book Prayer. I highly recommend this book to anyone who seeks answers to any of these questions: What is prayer? What difference does it make? Why and how should we pray? What about unanswered prayer? How should we understand prayer for physical healing? Yancey takes you along on his journey of finding answers to these and other questions. I’ve only read 9 of 22 chapters, but I’m finding his thoughts helpful and timely for some of my current situations.
Anyway, chapter 8 of this book is titled “Partnership”. In it, Yancey talks about how “… from the very beginning God has relied on
human partners to advance the process of creation (p. 100).” God works through us to accomplish His will and plan for history as it unfolds. “Prayer is co-operation with God…” (p. 93). In prayer, we ask for God’s will to be done, but we must then do our part to see that accomplished. Two sentences from one man’s letter to Yancey about prayer captures the essence of this partnership. Gary works for International Justice Mission which works for justice in situations around the world. In reference to a situation in which nine women are being held in prison in South-east Asia, Gary says this: “We’ll pray for them tomorrow, and the next day, until they all get freed. In the meantime, we’ll work as hard as we can to accomplish just that (p.100).” Although this group is praying fervently, they are not sitting idly hoping that God will “magically” release these women; instead these advocates for justice are doing whatever they can think of to make their prayers a reality, all the while hoping God will work through them to accomplish this.
I needed this reminder. How often do I pray for someone to come to a saving knowledge of Christ but then ignore opportunities to share the gospel with that same person? How often do I ask God to change me in some way and then continue doing that same thing? There needs to be a balance of prayer and action. I once heard someone say, “Pray as thought it depends on God; work like it depends on you.” I think I now understand that phrase a little better.
But even in the midst of all that, I need to remember that God chooses to work through us humans. He could very well accomplish His will (quickly) with some supernatural manipulation, but instead He chooses to work with humans who mess things up and slow down the process. Ours is an unequal partnership. God will always be greater than I am, and He is really the one doing the work, but I still get to be a part of it. I’ll leave you with a story Yancey told to illustrate why God might choose to do this.
“My pastor spent a day of hard labour installing stone steps
in his backyard. The individual stones
weighed between a hundred and two hundred pounds, and it took all of Peter’s
strength and a few tools to manoeuvre them into place. His five-year-old daughter begged to
help. When he suggested she just sing,
to encourage him in his work, she said no.
She wanted to help. Carefully, when it would not endanger her, he
let her place her hands on the rocks and push as he moved them.
Peter admitted later that Becky’s assistance actually
complicated the task. He could have
guilt the steps in less time without her ‘help’. At the end of the day, tough, he had not only
new steps but a daughter bursting with pride and a sense of
accomplishment. ‘Me and Dad made steps,’
she announced at dinner that night. And
he would be the first to agree” (p. 104).
