The Function of Prayer and Some Thoughts About the Temptation of Jesus
Promotion Monday.
We’ve come to yet another Promotion Monday!
Today, I’ve shared a Facebook post by Brandon Edwards, the College Evangelist at the Church of Christ on Fishinger Road. He is also the Creative Director at Hidden Bridge Media.
I always enjoy reading the articles he posts on Facebook - they always make you think. I hope his article on the function of prayer is helpful to you.
“The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.” - Soren Kierkegaard
There are days where praying may seem like one is simply making friends with the furniture in the room - empty words that drape the coffee table in front of the one praying. So, one prays harder but the words bounce off the painted walls seemingly marked "return to sender." These same words being spoken yearn to burst forth from the room they are trapped in - banging against the door, turning the door handle, demanding to be set free.
The frustration is real, tangible, and overwhelming.
The pain is real. Doubt, as doubt always does, is preaching its own lessons, its own sermons, its own desires.
But, as the prodigious poet Joseph Solomon says, "Before you doubt God, doubt your doubts."
God, in His loving wisdom, is not far away from any one of us. As we sit reeling from the travails of this world, God is there. The words we whisper, scream, shout at the walls in prayer to God are not only heard, but they are also answered. Every one of them.
Always.
But, there are moments where we just don't understand the answers and, if we are truly honest, there are moments where we don't like the answers. That is our human frailty. We, living in a temporary world, do not understand the grand scheme of God's will and desire for us all.
One of the hardest things to do in this world is to trust an eternal God with our temporary ails. So, take comfort - the one who does not let the sun set without His command hears you, knows you, and loves you.
You are heard even when no ear is visible. You are known even if no one speaks your name. You are loved even when it isn't said audibly.
God is listening. Pray so that it changes you.
This article was originally posted on Facebook and written by Brandon Edwards.
Some would say the following is a contradiction in Scripture: God cannot be tempted with evil, and yet Jesus was tempted.
Did the Bible get it wrong? Or is there something we are overlooking?
This video provides a good answer.