Jim Wallis & petitionary prayer
Today I received an email from Jim Wallis. Here's a little about him from Wikipedia, for those who don't know him ...
The Reverend Jim Wallis (b. June 4, 1948, Detroit, Michigan) is an Evangelical Christian writer and political activist, best known as the founder and editor of Sojourners Magazine and of the Washington, D.C.-based Christian community of the same name. Wallis actively eschews political labels, but his advocacy tends to focus on issues of peace and social justice, earning him his primary support from the religious left. Wallis is also known for his opposition to the religious right's fiscal and foreign policies ...
I probably got the message because I often visit the BeliefNet/Sojourners blog. The message made me think about something .... whether there's a point to petitionary prayer. Here's a little of the message ...
Next week, Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, will report to Congress on the troop "surge," in which the Bush administration has escalated the war in Iraq by sending an additional 20,000 American combat troops. As people of faith, we believe in the power of prayer to soften the hardest of hearts and open the way to peace and reconciliation. So, as General Petraeus testifies, we're planning to match his surge with one of our own–20,000 prayers for Congress to bring an end to this war ...
I'm a peace-nik, against the war in Iraq, think we never should have gone and that we should leave right away (see an earlier post, but I realized as I read the email, that I didn't think the prayer plan would work and I doubted it was worth the effort - after all, shouldn't we work for political ends with political means?
That realization gave me pause ... is it that I don't believe in the efficacy of petitionary prayer? I don't think it's that - whenever things are going badly for me, I want things to improve so badly that I don't care how small the chance is that prayer may workI and I talk God's ear off in ways that resemble passionate PowerPoint presentations. Maybe Jim Wallis cares that much about peace.
And maybe both prayer and action are important. I'm reminded of something Ignatius of Loyola said - "Pray as if everything depends on God, but act as if everything depends on you."
The Reverend Jim Wallis (b. June 4, 1948, Detroit, Michigan) is an Evangelical Christian writer and political activist, best known as the founder and editor of Sojourners Magazine and of the Washington, D.C.-based Christian community of the same name. Wallis actively eschews political labels, but his advocacy tends to focus on issues of peace and social justice, earning him his primary support from the religious left. Wallis is also known for his opposition to the religious right's fiscal and foreign policies ...
I probably got the message because I often visit the BeliefNet/Sojourners blog. The message made me think about something .... whether there's a point to petitionary prayer. Here's a little of the message ...
Next week, Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, will report to Congress on the troop "surge," in which the Bush administration has escalated the war in Iraq by sending an additional 20,000 American combat troops. As people of faith, we believe in the power of prayer to soften the hardest of hearts and open the way to peace and reconciliation. So, as General Petraeus testifies, we're planning to match his surge with one of our own–20,000 prayers for Congress to bring an end to this war ...
I'm a peace-nik, against the war in Iraq, think we never should have gone and that we should leave right away (see an earlier post, but I realized as I read the email, that I didn't think the prayer plan would work and I doubted it was worth the effort - after all, shouldn't we work for political ends with political means?
That realization gave me pause ... is it that I don't believe in the efficacy of petitionary prayer? I don't think it's that - whenever things are going badly for me, I want things to improve so badly that I don't care how small the chance is that prayer may workI and I talk God's ear off in ways that resemble passionate PowerPoint presentations. Maybe Jim Wallis cares that much about peace.
And maybe both prayer and action are important. I'm reminded of something Ignatius of Loyola said - "Pray as if everything depends on God, but act as if everything depends on you."
posted by crystal | 10:56 PM
4 Comments:
As someone who ephatically does NOT believe in petitionary prayer (at least when it comes to effecting change outside of ourselves), I take a dim view of any attempt on the part of religious or political leaders to encourage people to pray for political purposes. I like Jim Wallis and believe he is a sincere man, but I dislike the promotion of the belief that praying will actually accomplish anything. This kind of prayer gives believers a false sense that they are actually doing something, when in fact they are not. And this, it seems to me, decreases the probability that they will take action and effect real change.
This kind of prayer gives believers a false sense that they are actually doing something, when in fact they are not.
This is the thing that bothers me - the fear that people will only pray for change, but not act for it. And if their prayers aren't answered, will they decide that means God doesn't want it to happen?
I'm not sure where I stand on petitionary prayer. There are places in the NT where it seems to be encouraged. I guss there are two questions for me - is it ok to ask for what you want, and does God actually answer these prayers in the sense of changing things to conform to our wishes.
I don't know the answers, but for me, it's just impossible not to ask for what I want (serious chatacter flaw :-), and I'm in turns despairing and cautiously hopeful about getting what I ask for ... the theological weirdities of the whole subject boggle the mind.
Few of us have a platform where we can speak out like Jim Wallis can. I think doing that's more promising than prayer alone and probably why he does it.
And probably why Martin Luther King Jr. did more than pray for civil rights... Prayer's fine but not a substitute for action, guess that would be my view.
As usual, thanks for the intersting links. You are the queen of religion/spirituality links!
Hi Paul,
Yes, I think Ignatius had it when he said "act as if everything depends on you".
I link, therefore I am :-)
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