The Efficacy of Prayer (03/02/24)
Prayer is a way to express [as if of ourselves] our desire and need for conjunction with God and heaven. What we are asking for is not
as important as why we are asking, and how we respond to the answer.
Thomas Moore writes that the
importance of prayer is not that it "works" but that, "Prayer makes us holy. It represents our awareness that we live in...two universes: the world of the senses we control... and the world of mystery and timelessness that far transcends our abilities. By keeping these two universes connected, prayer makes holiness possible"
The most common type of prayer is probably petitionary prayer, because we humans want things. For example, we want to be safe and we want those we love to be safe; we want good weather, good grades and good things. Asking God for things is not wrong; after all, He
is the Ultimate Provider.
Unfortunately, the answer to our asking for specific things is often,
"No", or "Not now". This is not an answer we like to hear. Sincere prayer, however, remembers that it is God's will that is important. Even when we don't get what we want, God can give us a better understanding of what we really need. Almost all of us can recall asking for something that we did not receive, only to find later that we got something even better, or that what we asked for wouldn't have been good for us.
Sometimes, all we really need is time. We must wait on the Lord, to allow temptations to pass, and to allow the Lord to work in our lives. Even though the answer to
prayer may feel like, "No," it is actually, "Not yet." This should not be considered wasted time: “[A person] may not ready for this new state…[Their] progress is held back in mercy. [We] may have free choice but fortunately-the Lord rules the circumstances" (Rev. Hugo Lj Odhner).
Prayer for natural things must be tempered with a remembrance that what we really need are not things to eat, wear, or have. We read that, "If [a] person prays from love and faith, and for only heavenly and spiritual things, there then comes forth in the prayer something like a revelation (which is
manifested in the affection of the one that prays) as to hope, consolation, or a certain inward joy" (Swedenborg, Secrets of Heaven 2535).
Does this mean that we can or should pray only for spiritual things? No, it means that we ought to remember that while we may want the weather to be nice tomorrow, the Lord is looking to our eternal well-being. The most important prayers we will say are about spiritual things, but most things can become more spiritual through prayer. As we pray for good weather tomorrow, we can realize that what we want more is for our friend to have a
beautiful wedding tomorrow, and a happy marriage after that. This could lead us to pray for our friends' marriage, and for a good attitude toward our own marriage, which are spiritual things. By praying for natural things, we align our thoughts with heaven and the Lord will be able to show us what we need to pray for spiritually.
While praying for natural wants is useful, we must remember that we are to, "Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added" (Matthew 7:33). (Annika Fitzpatrick Barber, NCL 2008 - EDM edit)
