Belief, forgiveness, & prayer

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Isa. 63:7-14; 1 Tim. 1:18-2:8; Mark 11:12-26

We have a couple of references to prayer in the Scriptures today. Paul instructs Timothy and the church at Ephesus about prayer. In fact, it's "first of all" (2:1) in his instructions about "how one ought to behave in the household of God, the church of the living God" (2:15). And Jesus uses his cursing of the fig tree to instruct his disciples about prayer.

Belief and Forgiveness. These are two essential elements of prayer. Jesus says

22 And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. 23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

All I want to say about this today is that maybe we only ought to pray for things we believe in, for which God has given us faith (which Paul wrote about to this church in another place, Ephesians 2:8). Yes, there is a volitional aspect to believing. We must choose to believe in God, to trust in him, and not in the myriad things that call out to us to trust in them. However, too often "prayer of faith" is rather something made up, I think; something that comes out of one's imagination, even one's "flesh."

How about, after presenting ourselves to our Father, that his name may be hallowed and sanctified by our lives, and bringing our hearts as fully as possible in line (kavanah, focused intention) that his kingdom come and his will be done, that we examine our hearts to see what indeed we really believe and do not doubt with regard to our prayers? What if, for a season, we experimented by praying only those things we truly trusted that God willed, without a doubt? Not that we wouldn't pray for friends who were sick, though we did not truly believe they would be healed - we just wouldn't pray for the physical healing, for example, but for exactly what we really believed... eg. a deep sense of security in God's love, reconciliation with a family member, etc. (Hang in there with me on this. This is the way we grow in spiritual disciplines, through practice and experiment. Of course we are to pray for people to be healed. But perhaps the way to differentiate would be to recognize the various categories of prayer. We have honest, humble, childlike petitions ("we humbly beg you to heal, Father"); and the "prayer of faith" which is really what I'm talking about [James 5:15 - "the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick...])

Secondly, forgiveness. Jesus says

25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

It's interesting to note that there is no verse 26 in Mark 11. Some manuscripts include a verse 26, But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your trespasses. This, of course, is exactly what Matthew includes immediately following the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6. "Whenever you stand praying, forgive." Jesus seems to be saying, you might be able to move a mountain into the sea, but what good is that if your sins are not forgiven?!

But perhaps even moreso, I think Jesus may be implying that if we harbor unforgiveness we are undermining and destroying the grace of faith in our hearts. They go together. The faith to believe a mountain can be moved into the sea is the same faith that believes a mountain of hurt, sin, or abuse piled up in your heart can and ought to be moved. Unforgiveness is like rot to the pillars of trust, to the foundation of faith and faithfulness.

I recently read an article in Christianity Today by Richard Foster on the Future of Spiritual Formation. On a sidebar he listed qualities necessary for a Spiritual Director (I think that was the term he used). I was struck that he clearly and definitively included forgiveness as one of them. A spiritual friend or guide cannot have the darkness of unforgiveness clouding up their hearts as they seek to help another discern the light for their path.

Faith and forgiveness. Bottom line, key elements of prayer that connects with God, prayer that changes us and perhaps even our circumstances, prayer that is in the way of Jesus.

Lord, have mercy upon us.

P.S. here's a freebie, along the lines of forgiveness. Trinity Worship Songs. Click "songs" and enjoy, my son Mark has a couple of songs there, including a new one called "Confession" based on the BCP Rite 2 Confession. Enjoy.