(The following excerpt has been taken from the book, Prayer and Worship by Cheryl Taylor and Russ Michaels)
George Lucas popularized the expression, “May the force be with you” in his Star Wars films. While the saying may be relatively new in church history, the notion of an impersonal ruler of the cosmos is not. Many Christians behave (and pray) as if God were an impersonal force, distant and detached from personal involvement in our lives. Why would anyone ignore the God of the universe, who offers us the pleasure of His company? One reason may be we simply do not understand just how personal God is. Or, subconsciously, some believers want to keep God distant. “Confine God to the cerebral cortex and He will not be able to mess up your plans. The more abstract and impersonal you can
The problem, however, is that the less demanding and personal we perceive God to be, the more boring He will seem and the less inclined we will be to spend time in prayer with Him. An abstract, indifferent God, on one hand, is a shrunken God in our minds. On the other hand, we may believe He is too big and therefore too busy to get involved with people. “But the God Jesus told us to pray to can both run the cosmos and knit a baby together in the mother’s womb. He can number both subatomic particles and the hairs on your head” (Patterson 2001, 71). Indeed, we are children of a great God.
The Starting Point: Our Understanding of God
If prayer is our response to all God has revealed himself to be, then a good question to ask might be, “What does my prayer life say about who I believe God to be?” Does my prayer reflect the greatness of our almighty, sovereign, all-powerful, all-knowing, loving, holy Creator? Or does my prayer life reflect a small, weak, distant, uninvolved God? Belief in a second-rate, impersonal God will result in a second-rate, impersonal prayer life, for our prayer flows out of our beliefs about God. Our prayer life is directly related to our conscious (or subconscious) beliefs about God. An appropriate response to God is rooted in a right view of God, which must be informed by His Word. An incomplete or inaccurate image of God will impact our prayers. Many Christians hold a variety of misconceptions about God. A few of these misconceptions are highlighted in the following pages.
Misconception 1: God Has More Important Concerns than Me
Some Christians operate from the belief that the God Almighty, Creator and Sustainer of the universe, has much bigger and more important things to worry about than spending time with them. For instance, the mystic Meister Eckhart refused to “pray the rich and loving God for such trifles” as to help him recover from an illness. And Catherine of Genoa took pride in never asking anything for herself in thirty-five years of constant prayer. This sense of insignificance could stem from a poor self-image, or from a sense of piety. Yet the Bible emphasizes God’s interest in every aspect of our lives. Even a cursory glance at the prayers of the Bible reveals that God responds to all sorts of “selfish” prayers: an infertile woman who wants a baby, a widow who needs more cooking oil, or a soldier who begs for victory in battle. People also pray for rain during a drought. The Lord’s prayer includes a plea for daily bread. Paul prays about safe travels, prosperous work, relief from a physical ailment, and boldness in preaching. James urges prayers for wisdom and physical healing. After reviewing the prayers in the Bible, it is safe to stop worrying about being too insignificant to God. “Since God counts on prayer as a primary way to relate to us, we could actually block potential intimacy by filtering out prayers that may not seem ‘spiritual’ enough” (Yancey 2006, 317– 318).
Misconception 2: God Could Not Love Me as I Really Am
Others operate from the belief that they are unworthy of God’s love and attention. They worry that past behavior has somehow disqualified them from deserving God’s ravishing love. They may think, When God sees me for who I really am, can I survive the contact? Again, however, the Bible gives a detailed record of God listening to prayers from decidedly unworthy people: from short-fused Moses, to self-absorbed Samson to the rough sailors who threw Jonah overboard, let alone the moping prophet himself. God responded to King David’s prayers of repentance after the sins of murder and adultery, as well as the desperation prayer of wicked King Manasseh (2 Chronicles 33: 10– 13). Jesus commended the prayer of an unworthy tax collector above that of an upright Pharisee. Philip Yancey emphasizes that a sense of unworthiness hardly disqualifies one from prayer; rather, it serves as a necessary starting point. Apart from feeling unworthy, why call on God in the first place? Unworthiness establishes the ground rules, setting the proper alignment between broken human beings and a perfect God. It should be considered a motivation for prayer, not a hindrance (Yancey 2006, 185).
Misconception 3: God Will Require Me to Do Things I Do Not Want to Do
Some fear what will happen if they come too close to God, and this fear of the unknown prevents them from seeking a close encounter of the most important kind. They may be afraid that God will ask them to give up certain relationships, life dreams, or things they enjoy. He may want to bring about growth that could be unpleasant or painful in the process. Still others fear that God might call them to go somewhere they do not want to go. Scott Wesley Brown’s old song, “Please don’t send me to Africa,” expresses this sentiment held by many Western Christians, revealing their fear that God will send them to a primitive and remote place, far from home. The result of such fears is that we reject the excitement of God’s nearness by keeping Him at arm’s length. We avoid His embrace, choosing instead to communicate with God mainly so we can deliver our list of predictable prayer requests. Granted, prayer is not a matter of getting God to do what we want Him to do, but rather one of God getting us to do what He wants us to do. When we experience close encounters with God, we will change, but we will also want to change. “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37: 4). Even during those times when we go through the Refiner’s fire, we must not forget that the purpose is to purify and refine us for His purposes (see Malachi 3: 3).
Misconception 4: God Is Either a Harsh Taskmaster or a Grandfatherly Type
Depending on their experience with their earthly fathers, and/ or early teaching, some Christians perceive God as one of two extremes. First, some see Him as a strict disciplinarian. They are taught to talk to God with respectful reticence. They are so afraid of being penalized that even in desperate moments, they hold back from God. If we think that God is an angry tyrant, we will keep our distance from His throne. If we picture God exclusively as the Chief Justice of the heavenly Supreme Court, we will be disinclined to beg Him for mercy. Conversely, our communication with God will be impacted if we picture Him in overly sentimental and familiar images— like our kindly grandfathers. If God is merely my friend or a divine “Santa” to grant my wishes, then I will freely express my needs to Him, but not my worship (Roberts 2005, 8).
Misconception 5: God Either Cannot or Does Not Want to Answer My Prayers
Many believers have pressing needs, but they do not seek God for help because somewhere beneath the surface layer of faith and trust, they do not believe God has the power to do anything about their needs. While many Christians maintain an intellectual belief in God’s ability to answer prayer, it has not registered where it really counts, in heartfelt conviction. When our hearts are not persuaded, we do not pray because deep down we do not believe that God can (or will) answer. It is one thing for us to simply agree with the proper doctrines of God’s omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence, but it is another thing entirely to own them, to move beyond mere mental assent to actually believing them. At some point, we must move beyond believing in something because it is what we have been taught, or because it is what scholars say, to believing it because we have experienced the reality. If we really did believe in God’s ability to answer prayer, we would take prayer much more seriously. If we have fallen into disbelief, our first prayer back toward God should be, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9: 24).
All of these misconceptions will make us hesitate to seek God wholeheartedly. If you struggle with one of these issues, I encourage you to make it a matter of prayer and study. With a proper understanding of the nature of God these misunderstandings can be corrected!
References and Further Reading
Taylor, Cheryl and Michaels, Russ. Prayer and Worship , Global University.
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