Skip to main content

Let's Pray About It

Here is an interesting post from Jay Adams:

Probably said thousands of times a week by Christians around the world when facing a problem or question without a present answer. Is it the right response? 
It’s not wrong to pray about a matter, of course.  But prayer is often used as a substitute for the hard work of studying God’s Word to discover the facts needed. Prayer doesn’t automatically “work” in solving problems. Christians need to learn this fact. 
Moreover, when God has already answered a question or given directions, why should we want to shortcut the process of discovering what that answer is by simply praying about it? Should we expect God to tell us individually the answer we seek, when He has already done so in His Word? 
But there is something “mystically” special to some people about prayer. They think of prayer as more spiritual than Bible study! There’s the heart of the matter. Is it superior? Both are from God each has its place, but prayer is no substitute for hard study to find out truth. 
Indeed, here is one to think about: Why would our words (prayer) be considered superior, more spiritual, etc., to God’s Word (in Scripture)? Isn’t what He says far more important than what you have to utter?
 (via the Institute for Nouthetic Studies)
Labels:

Comments

  1. Angela Watson10/14/2011 12:36 PM

    Thought provoking. I would say the reason why people want to pray about it is because they want to know how to apply scripture to their lives and personal situations. And they want help in following what God already revealed.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Matt Harmless10/14/2011 1:02 PM

    I agree. I guess this post really got me thinking because of the many times that I will pray about something when I already know the answer. For example, I might pray about a tough financial decision, when one option is clearly poor stewardship...

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Leave a thought of your own.

Popular posts from this blog

The Seed and The Soil of Education (New Learning Project Part 1)

(This is my entry for the first part of my project for my New Learning course that I am taking.) Introduction Corn Fields in Illinois I have lived the majority of my life in the Midwest: mid-state Illinois to be specific. Where I live, farming is everywhere. My grandparents and great-grandparents on both sides of my family were farmers. My dad grew up on a farm and owned farmland, well into my own adulthood. But, even if it wasn’t in the family, I still would have been surrounded by farming. You can’t go more than a mile outside of my city’s limits without encountering miles and miles of fields. Most of our highways, and even interstates, are located between acres of farmland.
Post a Comment
Continue Reading »

This too shall pass...

Gam zeh ya'avor (Hebrew) "This Too Shall Pass" Welcome!  According to Google Analytics, this is by far the most visited post that I have ever written.  If someone comes here from a search engine, most of the time they are looking for " this too shall pass quote " or simply " this too shall pass " on Google or one of the other search engines. I am sure that most of the time visitors are looking for the originations of this quote, but I have to wonder, why is this quote on people's minds? Why are they pondering the passing of events?   Here is my thought: It is probably because most of us have realized that the adult life is much harder than we ever imagined it to be. There is more pain and more sorrow than we had ever imagined as children, but we have learned that time keeps ticking. And as time continues to flow things pass. In fact, even the really big things and the really hard things will still pass. If you are here because you are thinking ...
53 comments
Continue Reading »

The Minnesota Crime Commission wrote:

Every baby starts life as a little savage. He is completely selfish and self-centered. He wants what he wants when he wants it: his bottle, his mother's attention, his playmate's toys, his uncle's watch, or whatever. Deny him these and he seethes with rage and aggressiveness which would be murderous were he not so helpless. He's dirty, he has no morals, no knowledge, no developed skills. This means that all children, not just certain children but all children, are born delinquent. If permitted to continue in their self-centered world of infancy, given free reign to their impulsive actions to satisfy each want, every child would grow up a criminal, a thief, a killer, a rapist.
11 comments
Continue Reading »